Friday, July 31, 2015
Yesterday Joe and I were meandering along the Oregon Coast and being a rock-hound and obsessed with the lure of Oregon agates, we stopped at several beaches where I patiently and unsuccessfully looked for agates that weather out of the host rock and make their way via rivers down to the beach. I know from my readings that they are most likely to be found after the winter storms, so early spring is the best time to find them. Being mid-summer, I'm not surprised to have found nothing, but sad, nonetheless!
We walked a trail through a field and along the river. The field had several bovines (cows) and apparently they were friendly since we were not gored by any upset bulls. It was a little unnerving walking through the field though since I didn't know what kind of disposition they had. I just kept remembering a kid's cartoon I had seen about some cartoon character being pursued vigorously by a really mad and very big bull. I kept them in sight until we were safely out of range.
This unsuccessful search for agates also seems to have had other repercussions - my camera fell out of my pocket into about an inch of water. I quickly picked it up but apparently water did get into the workings. We tried to dry it out and recharged it last night in hopes of resurrecting it. It did turn on this morning and I did take pictures with it on a trip we took today on the Rogue River. The pictures showed in the viewing window of the camera so it seemed to be working. Alas, the computer could not detect the camera when I tried to load the photos. I will try again tomorrow, but I am pretty sure the camera is shot and I'll need to get another one.
Joe and I spent the night in Gold Beach, OR which was named for numerous gold claims where the Rogue River joins the ocean.
On to the story of today's trip (without photos, I am sad to say):
Joe and I went on a 104 mile trip down the Rogue River from Gold Beach, OR, on a Jet Boat from Jerry's Jet Boats. If you ever have the opportunity to make this trip, DO NOT PASS IT UP!!!! This was one of the most exciting things we have ever done!
We were in a jet boat with about 30 people and the guides, Hugh and Court were humorous, knowledgeable about the river and experts at navigating among the rocks, the history of the Rogue River and its early inhabitants and quick to point out local wildlife. We saw several Bald Eagles, several osprey, Kingfishers, a couple of different kinds of ducks, a mother deer and fawn, a couple of jumping fish, and a seal and several minks playing among some rocks and shrubs right at the edge of the water. Minks are really small (only about 6 inches long) so you can see how many little minks it would take to make a coat - hence the expensive price.
We shared the entry to the river with numerous small fishing boats with people hoping to catch steelheads (a type of trout). Once into the river itself, our guide began his commentary with pointing out the minks playing along the side of the river, followed by doing "wheelies or donuts" with the boat. In case you have never been in a boat doing "wheelies", you scream and getting R-E-A-L-L-Y W-E-T !!! I was sitting on the right side, row 2 - right where the spray (really high, really wet and really cool, and did I mention, really WET, comes in. There is no way anyone comes out of a Jerry's Jet Boat trip without a "bad hair day"!
Our trip continued with more commentary on wildlife, the geology of the Rogue River, more "left turns" at speed - resulting in more high sprays. The whole trip was like this - the only times we really went slow was when wildlife had been spotted or in the upper portions of the trip when we slowed down for kayakers and float boats. We had lunch up river then made the return trip in much the same fashion as the trip up river - commentary, slowing for wildlife, speeding up for "wheelies' and left and right turns at high speed just missing rocks and giving us ample opportunities for wet hair, wet shirts, wet jeans and water dripping from our noses and eyelashes.
We met a family who were doing the trip for the 3rd time - Jerry Bolton from Salem, OR. He identified with us as we parked as he has had Model T's in the past.
If you get the chance, take the trip down the Rogue River.
We walked a trail through a field and along the river. The field had several bovines (cows) and apparently they were friendly since we were not gored by any upset bulls. It was a little unnerving walking through the field though since I didn't know what kind of disposition they had. I just kept remembering a kid's cartoon I had seen about some cartoon character being pursued vigorously by a really mad and very big bull. I kept them in sight until we were safely out of range.
This unsuccessful search for agates also seems to have had other repercussions - my camera fell out of my pocket into about an inch of water. I quickly picked it up but apparently water did get into the workings. We tried to dry it out and recharged it last night in hopes of resurrecting it. It did turn on this morning and I did take pictures with it on a trip we took today on the Rogue River. The pictures showed in the viewing window of the camera so it seemed to be working. Alas, the computer could not detect the camera when I tried to load the photos. I will try again tomorrow, but I am pretty sure the camera is shot and I'll need to get another one.
Joe and I spent the night in Gold Beach, OR which was named for numerous gold claims where the Rogue River joins the ocean.
On to the story of today's trip (without photos, I am sad to say):
Joe and I went on a 104 mile trip down the Rogue River from Gold Beach, OR, on a Jet Boat from Jerry's Jet Boats. If you ever have the opportunity to make this trip, DO NOT PASS IT UP!!!! This was one of the most exciting things we have ever done!
We were in a jet boat with about 30 people and the guides, Hugh and Court were humorous, knowledgeable about the river and experts at navigating among the rocks, the history of the Rogue River and its early inhabitants and quick to point out local wildlife. We saw several Bald Eagles, several osprey, Kingfishers, a couple of different kinds of ducks, a mother deer and fawn, a couple of jumping fish, and a seal and several minks playing among some rocks and shrubs right at the edge of the water. Minks are really small (only about 6 inches long) so you can see how many little minks it would take to make a coat - hence the expensive price.
We shared the entry to the river with numerous small fishing boats with people hoping to catch steelheads (a type of trout). Once into the river itself, our guide began his commentary with pointing out the minks playing along the side of the river, followed by doing "wheelies or donuts" with the boat. In case you have never been in a boat doing "wheelies", you scream and getting R-E-A-L-L-Y W-E-T !!! I was sitting on the right side, row 2 - right where the spray (really high, really wet and really cool, and did I mention, really WET, comes in. There is no way anyone comes out of a Jerry's Jet Boat trip without a "bad hair day"!
Our trip continued with more commentary on wildlife, the geology of the Rogue River, more "left turns" at speed - resulting in more high sprays. The whole trip was like this - the only times we really went slow was when wildlife had been spotted or in the upper portions of the trip when we slowed down for kayakers and float boats. We had lunch up river then made the return trip in much the same fashion as the trip up river - commentary, slowing for wildlife, speeding up for "wheelies' and left and right turns at high speed just missing rocks and giving us ample opportunities for wet hair, wet shirts, wet jeans and water dripping from our noses and eyelashes.
We met a family who were doing the trip for the 3rd time - Jerry Bolton from Salem, OR. He identified with us as we parked as he has had Model T's in the past.
If you get the chance, take the trip down the Rogue River.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
THE STEERING COLUMN
The car continues to perferm well. The coast has caused some serious tarnishing of my brass' though. The scenery is beautiful on this coastal route, but the route is just not "old car friendly". We have encountered many dangerous and aggressive drivers and we are told that it gets worse in CA. We will try to stay on this route until we get to Sebastopol, CA and then may have to reconsider our route. Sebastopol is about 400 miles ahead of us.
........AND THAT'S ALL PART OF MOTORING.......
The car continues to perferm well. The coast has caused some serious tarnishing of my brass' though. The scenery is beautiful on this coastal route, but the route is just not "old car friendly". We have encountered many dangerous and aggressive drivers and we are told that it gets worse in CA. We will try to stay on this route until we get to Sebastopol, CA and then may have to reconsider our route. Sebastopol is about 400 miles ahead of us.
........AND THAT'S ALL PART OF MOTORING.......
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
We spent the last two nights in Florence, OR, about half way down the Oregon coast with two of the sweetest hosts we have had on the trip, Ursula and Rudy Dittl. They are members of the Affordable Travel Club and made our stay in Florence so relaxing and enjoyable. Rudy is a true American hero, one of the Marines on the first wave of landing craft that landed on Guadalcanal in WWII. He doesn't speak of it often, but then true heroes did what needed to be done at the time and just keep moving forward through life keeping their personal tragedies and experiences to themselves. We are so thankful for the unswerving dedication and perseverance that he and others made for our freedom.
Ursula, Rudy, Joe and I.
Ursula is an incredible fiber artist - working with flax and with, of all things, kelp, seaweed and driftwood. She is well known locally as "The Kelp Lady" and has provided huge wall hangings for Bloomingdales, teaches at the local college and has exhibited in many locations. I would give anything to have only 1/1000th of her talent! To take nothing but what washes up on the beach as trash and make works of art is an amazing talent!
This is kelp, the type seaweed that Ursula uses to create her artwork.
To take that plant from the sea and make this wedding dress sculpture is absolutely brilliant!
One of her wall hangings, made of kelp, seaweed, driftwood and fishing line!
Our second day in Florence started out early with an interview and photos with Jack from the Siuslaw Newspaper and then Joe and I explored Old Town, ate at a quaint seafood restaurant along the pier (he ate seafood and I had a hamburger). That's what happens when one grows up near the Chesapeake Bay in MD and the other is from North Louisiana and has lived everywhere but near the ocean. The limit to my seafood tolerance is shrimp boiled in "Old Bay" seasoning. Joe will eat anything that slithers, swims sideways or crawls on its belly - from the sea or on land. That proves that he is "tweeked"!!
While at the the pier I saw this sea lion.
Also, there were a ton of jellyfish swimming around. They are fun to watch but you sure don't want to fall in the water with them. They sting like fire.
After visiting in Old Town Florence, a couple from Venetta, OR, east of Florence who are HCCA members came over to visit us. They are Diane and Ron Hellekson and have a 1912 Cadillac Touring car and he is restoring a Brass era Jackson car. We have corresponded and talked on the phone with them but had never met them so this was a real honor to have them come all the way from Veneta to visit . One of Ursula's friends came over and took us out to visit some sites in the area and Joe and I found a huge patch of blackberries that we did our best to "clean out". Blackberries are definitely considered a weed in Oregon because they are so prolific, but you have to love them for the abundance of fruit they produce, and if you have a good recipe and are a good cook, blackberry cobbler is just around the corner.
Yummy!! All of the bushes you see behind us are just covered in blackberries!!
We are spending the night in Port Orford, about 3/4 of the way down the Oregon coast. It is right on the ocean and just before we went to eat dinner down by the docks, we were watching whales spouting. We watched for about 30 minutes - I mostly watched while Joe did the daily maintenance on the car. That is the best kind of division of labor! He does all the driving and maintenance and repairs on the car and I am the navigator, do the blog and tell him where to turn into antique store, thrift store or yard sale parking areas. I definitely like my job better.
As a general rule we go about 100 miles a day unless something catches our fancy. Tomorrow we are going to try to take a trip up the Rogue Rive in OR on a jet boat. We have been told it is a fantastic trip and you can see elk, deer and bear if the "fates are with you"!
Ursula, Rudy, Joe and I.
Ursula is an incredible fiber artist - working with flax and with, of all things, kelp, seaweed and driftwood. She is well known locally as "The Kelp Lady" and has provided huge wall hangings for Bloomingdales, teaches at the local college and has exhibited in many locations. I would give anything to have only 1/1000th of her talent! To take nothing but what washes up on the beach as trash and make works of art is an amazing talent!
This is kelp, the type seaweed that Ursula uses to create her artwork.
To take that plant from the sea and make this wedding dress sculpture is absolutely brilliant!
One of her wall hangings, made of kelp, seaweed, driftwood and fishing line!
Our second day in Florence started out early with an interview and photos with Jack from the Siuslaw Newspaper and then Joe and I explored Old Town, ate at a quaint seafood restaurant along the pier (he ate seafood and I had a hamburger). That's what happens when one grows up near the Chesapeake Bay in MD and the other is from North Louisiana and has lived everywhere but near the ocean. The limit to my seafood tolerance is shrimp boiled in "Old Bay" seasoning. Joe will eat anything that slithers, swims sideways or crawls on its belly - from the sea or on land. That proves that he is "tweeked"!!
While at the the pier I saw this sea lion.
Also, there were a ton of jellyfish swimming around. They are fun to watch but you sure don't want to fall in the water with them. They sting like fire.
After visiting in Old Town Florence, a couple from Venetta, OR, east of Florence who are HCCA members came over to visit us. They are Diane and Ron Hellekson and have a 1912 Cadillac Touring car and he is restoring a Brass era Jackson car. We have corresponded and talked on the phone with them but had never met them so this was a real honor to have them come all the way from Veneta to visit . One of Ursula's friends came over and took us out to visit some sites in the area and Joe and I found a huge patch of blackberries that we did our best to "clean out". Blackberries are definitely considered a weed in Oregon because they are so prolific, but you have to love them for the abundance of fruit they produce, and if you have a good recipe and are a good cook, blackberry cobbler is just around the corner.
Yummy!! All of the bushes you see behind us are just covered in blackberries!!
We are spending the night in Port Orford, about 3/4 of the way down the Oregon coast. It is right on the ocean and just before we went to eat dinner down by the docks, we were watching whales spouting. We watched for about 30 minutes - I mostly watched while Joe did the daily maintenance on the car. That is the best kind of division of labor! He does all the driving and maintenance and repairs on the car and I am the navigator, do the blog and tell him where to turn into antique store, thrift store or yard sale parking areas. I definitely like my job better.
As a general rule we go about 100 miles a day unless something catches our fancy. Tomorrow we are going to try to take a trip up the Rogue Rive in OR on a jet boat. We have been told it is a fantastic trip and you can see elk, deer and bear if the "fates are with you"!
Monday, July 27, 2015
Coastal Oregon is INCREDIBLY beautiful! The beaches are wide, the sand is so soft and deep, some shorelines separated from the road only by dunes, some by rocky cliffs, but all spectacular.
Just beautiful!
We spent the night in Pacific City, OR with HCCA members Jeannette and Ladd Henderson. They live right on the coast, overlooking this spit of land. They have quite a few antique vehicles, some in museums in another part of the state and some still in boxes that need to be restored.
The question among all old car people is, "Will I ever live long enough to restore all my old cars"? Every old car deserves love - even if it is in dozens of pieces, all rusty and greasy and it currently lives in the corner of the garage under an old tarp. I didn't mean that Ladd had an old car under a tarp in the corner of the garage, but we all know that there are a lot of cars that fall under this stage of "restoration".
Ladd and Jeannette were great hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. They love to travel, most of it overseas, and hearing about their adventures was a treat. Jeannette is a marvelous cook (Joe certainly didn't marry me for my cooking abilities)!
The spit of land in the picture above is incredibly beautiful. Can it get much better than this? Oh, yes. The spit of land is the view outside their dining room window while the huge rock below is right outside their living room window. Look to the right side of this huge hunk of rock and notice the eye of the needle!
Amazing! Ladd said that in the spring and early fall pods of whales pass between this rock and the shore on their migrations north and south. What an amazing place to live. Deer come into their yard quite often, some pretty tame. As we were driving up their road, we saw a mother deer and 2 fawns. There is an area downtown Pacific City near the Pizza place that has lots of resident bunnies that hang around. Apparently, the neighbors in the area used to feed them shredded carrots so, being smart bunnies, they stayed and do what bunnies do, and multiplied. Joe and I saw 2 - a quite ordinary looking domestic bunny and another that was pure black - both just hanging out downtown.
Rugged shoreline south of Pacific City.
Just beautiful!
We spent the night in Pacific City, OR with HCCA members Jeannette and Ladd Henderson. They live right on the coast, overlooking this spit of land. They have quite a few antique vehicles, some in museums in another part of the state and some still in boxes that need to be restored.
The question among all old car people is, "Will I ever live long enough to restore all my old cars"? Every old car deserves love - even if it is in dozens of pieces, all rusty and greasy and it currently lives in the corner of the garage under an old tarp. I didn't mean that Ladd had an old car under a tarp in the corner of the garage, but we all know that there are a lot of cars that fall under this stage of "restoration".
Ladd and Jeannette were great hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. They love to travel, most of it overseas, and hearing about their adventures was a treat. Jeannette is a marvelous cook (Joe certainly didn't marry me for my cooking abilities)!
The spit of land in the picture above is incredibly beautiful. Can it get much better than this? Oh, yes. The spit of land is the view outside their dining room window while the huge rock below is right outside their living room window. Look to the right side of this huge hunk of rock and notice the eye of the needle!
Amazing! Ladd said that in the spring and early fall pods of whales pass between this rock and the shore on their migrations north and south. What an amazing place to live. Deer come into their yard quite often, some pretty tame. As we were driving up their road, we saw a mother deer and 2 fawns. There is an area downtown Pacific City near the Pizza place that has lots of resident bunnies that hang around. Apparently, the neighbors in the area used to feed them shredded carrots so, being smart bunnies, they stayed and do what bunnies do, and multiplied. Joe and I saw 2 - a quite ordinary looking domestic bunny and another that was pure black - both just hanging out downtown.
Rugged shoreline south of Pacific City.
Rugged shoreline and sandy beaches. Just spectacular scenery!!
There always has to be a "quirky" picture, so here is today's "Quirk".
I spotted this VW bug/camper conversion at a Tillamook, OR RV center. Some people just think a little "off-center". I love it!
Tonight and tomorrow night, we are spending the night in Florence, OR, still along the coast. We went to a Fred Meyer's store (like a Walmart) this afternoon in Florence and it was backed right up to a sand dune with the beach just on the other side. I noticed a vehicle with a loader on the front - I think they use it to push sand, not snow.
The coast is beautiful, but the traffic has been horrendous. We pull off often to let traffic go by and have the hardest time getting back on the road. There may be 20 cars going by before there is a break in traffic. It was really busy over the weekend but we had hoped that being a Monday, the traffic would be somewhat less. Keep dreaming! The beach draws the crowds here in the summer no matter what day of the week it is.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Yesterday was a beautiful day for touring - bright and sunny and beautiful countryside. We traveled along the WA coast, sometimes through the forests, sometimes with views of the beaches, sometimes along areas where the rivers met the ocean.
Saw this wonderful sculpture in a little town along our way. What is it about people looking up in the sky? You can't not look up to see what they are looking at! I knew this was just a piece of metal, but I had to check out what he was looking at. Just the sky! For a moment, I felt like an idiot for looking, then decided that was the beauty of the sculpture, it just sucked you in to the curiosity of the moment. That is great art!
We stopped for breakfast and I ordered one pancake. Take a gander at what showed up!
Never, never have I seen a pancake this size! Some one told me that they cook for loggers. That must be the truth. Needless to say, I didn't finish it even though it was one of the best pancakes I have ever tried to eat. We got in the car ready to leave and I put on my seatbelt. The only problem was that the seatbelt would only fasten in the last hole when it usually closed about 4 holes from the end. Surely that pancake didn't make that much difference that fast! Joe was laughing at me because I had fastened one side of my seatbelt to one side of his seatbelt, stretching across his seat. No wonder I could only fasten it in the last hole. I felt like an idiot, but boy, was I glad to find out the pancake was not the problem!
There was a motorcycle rally somewhere up the coast, near Pacific Beach, I believe, and we passed hundreds of cycles headed north.
Just a few of the hundreds we saw on their way north. The forests in this region are so dense that there could have been all kinds of wildlife 2 feet into the vegetation and you would never have seen them.
Driving along these 2-lane roads, we did out best to pull over to let cars pass or ride the shoulder if that was an option. We pulled over to ride the shoulder at one point and it was like we were driving with square wheels - it was bump, thump, hop, bump, thump, hop. Don't know what the problem was with the shoulder, but it sure gave us a thrill!
We spent the night in Astoria, OR and will spend tonight in Pacific City and tomorrow night in Florence, OR.
Mud flats along the coast.
Saw this wonderful sculpture in a little town along our way. What is it about people looking up in the sky? You can't not look up to see what they are looking at! I knew this was just a piece of metal, but I had to check out what he was looking at. Just the sky! For a moment, I felt like an idiot for looking, then decided that was the beauty of the sculpture, it just sucked you in to the curiosity of the moment. That is great art!
We stopped for breakfast and I ordered one pancake. Take a gander at what showed up!
Never, never have I seen a pancake this size! Some one told me that they cook for loggers. That must be the truth. Needless to say, I didn't finish it even though it was one of the best pancakes I have ever tried to eat. We got in the car ready to leave and I put on my seatbelt. The only problem was that the seatbelt would only fasten in the last hole when it usually closed about 4 holes from the end. Surely that pancake didn't make that much difference that fast! Joe was laughing at me because I had fastened one side of my seatbelt to one side of his seatbelt, stretching across his seat. No wonder I could only fasten it in the last hole. I felt like an idiot, but boy, was I glad to find out the pancake was not the problem!
There was a motorcycle rally somewhere up the coast, near Pacific Beach, I believe, and we passed hundreds of cycles headed north.
Just a few of the hundreds we saw on their way north. The forests in this region are so dense that there could have been all kinds of wildlife 2 feet into the vegetation and you would never have seen them.
Driving along these 2-lane roads, we did out best to pull over to let cars pass or ride the shoulder if that was an option. We pulled over to ride the shoulder at one point and it was like we were driving with square wheels - it was bump, thump, hop, bump, thump, hop. Don't know what the problem was with the shoulder, but it sure gave us a thrill!
We spent the night in Astoria, OR and will spend tonight in Pacific City and tomorrow night in Florence, OR.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Yesterday morning we awakened to grey drizzle that lasted all day as we drove down Rt 101 along the Wa coast through Olympic National Park. We saw a couple of signs for Rain Forests but decided to go there since we were already driving through forests in the rain. We spent the night just south of Pacific Beach, WA at a wonderful motel right on the beach called the Sandpiper. The drizzle let up about 8:00 PM and I went for a walk along the beach hoping to find agate or other treasures. I found lots of razor clam shells, seaweed and the shells of crabs and a few broken sand dollars. No exciting finds and nothing to bring home, but a nice walk anyway. There are lots more beaches to explore between here and southern CA!
This morning it is bright and sunny and should be a beautiful drive down the coast. We'll be stopping in South Bend, WA this evening.
This morning it is bright and sunny and should be a beautiful drive down the coast. We'll be stopping in South Bend, WA this evening.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Thursday, July 23, 2015
I wanted to share with you some of the wild folk art that we saw in the little town of Conway, WA. We visited with Phyllis and Steve Hammatt who are HCCA members in Mount Vernon the day before yesterday. We met them at their house to look at some vintage clothing that the local HCCA club had stored with Phyllis and Steve. I found several items that were perfect for my Hershey vintage clothing booth in October. After visiting with them, they took us out to lunch in Conway where we found these great pieces of folk art in addition to a couple of great antique shops. If you are ever in that area of WA state, be sure to visit Conway. Thanks to Steve and Phyllis.
Wild owl made out of found objects including a base from on old stove, circular saw blades, bottle caps, a plow share, and pitch forks as feathers on the top.
Another huge work of art with a Model A wheel used as the brim of the hat. More bottle caps used. Such creativity.
Another of the figures. I want all of them in my back field!
We followed Rt 2 south over Deception Pass Bridge to Whidby Island. Deception Pass Bridge was impressive, but traffic was so busy that I wasn't able to get a picture of it. I'm really sorry for that. It curves over a huge body of water with tide surges of up to 15 feet so the bridge is really high.
I had always heard about Whidby Island and after hearing about it, half wanted to live there. I have definitely changed my mind. Northern Whidby Island is home to the Whidby Island Naval Air Station and there is an almost constant stream of naval jet flyers taking off and landing. Really noisy. I know the Navy needs that training facility, but I am very glad that I don't live nearby. I found the lower part of Whidby
Island to be pretty unspectacular, (mostly scrubby vegetation) not at all what I had expected. I was also F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G!! We had left our winter coats (mine had a fuzzy hood), blankets, and thermal underwear in Bellingham to be brought to Hershey by Steve Hammatt to save space in the car. I had on a denim coat and Joe's denim duster and was about to die! My ears were frozen. We finally reached the Keystone Ferry Landing and took the ferry from Whidby Island to Port Townsend, just a short ferry ride away.
Landing in Port Townsend was like landing in another country and another century. It is is a marvelous place - full of Victorian buildings, art galleries, boutiques, book shops, great restaurants - so different than Whidby Island.
Just one of the many, many Victorian buildings in Port Townsend.
This old building had a magnificent Bull Durham Tobacco ad painted on the building.
After spending the night in Port Townsend, we traveled on to Sequim where we spent the night. The area from Port Townsend to Sequim was beautiful - farmland and lavender farms, lots of recreational activities - hiking, boating, etc. In Sequim, we called Dennis and Mary Hood, HCCA members, and went out to dinner. They met us in their 1914 Cadillac. It was beautiful - green and pristine. They arrived at the restaurant in their dusters with the top down on their Cadillac. Our car had already been put to sleep and covered at the hotel. We met them this morning at their home just outside Sequim where they had everything ready for Joe to give our very dirty car a much needed bath. Many thanks for the water, the soap, the brushes and the mitts. Our car just sparkles now. While Joe was busy doing the dirty work, I was visiting with Mary and enjoying a tour of their yard. Not long after leaving their place, Joe spotted an upholstery shop and stopped in to borrow a tool to replace a snap on one of the side curtains. Gary Smith was very accommodating and we appreciate his help.
As we traveled down Rt 101, we stopped for a brief time in Port Angeles to visit with HCCA members Bob and Mary Osann. We were very bad - we just drove up to their place without notice - something we try never to do. They were very gracious and while Joe was giving Bob a ride in our car, Mary and I were looking at all the landscaping that they have been doing at their new home overlooking the Olympic Mountains and the harbor at Port Angeles. Across the harbor you could see Vancouver Island in Canada and the ferry going over to Victoria. Mary had a turn in the car while her husband and I got to get to know each other a little. Many thanks for being so gracious on the spur of the moment!
We are spending the night in the little town of Fork on the western coast of WA. This was and still is a huge logging area.
Take a look at this H-U-G-E log with our E-M-F beside it. When it was logged in 1978, the log weighed over 70,000 lbs (35 tons) and they had to build a special road to get it out of the woods. The average number of growth rings per inch of wood is 20, so scientists have figured out that this tree was 1,250 years old when Columbus discovered America in 1492. They figure that the tree began its life in about the year 258 A.D.!!!!!! Amazing!!!
We expect to be in Moclips, WA tomorrow evening.
Wild owl made out of found objects including a base from on old stove, circular saw blades, bottle caps, a plow share, and pitch forks as feathers on the top.
Another huge work of art with a Model A wheel used as the brim of the hat. More bottle caps used. Such creativity.
Another of the figures. I want all of them in my back field!
We followed Rt 2 south over Deception Pass Bridge to Whidby Island. Deception Pass Bridge was impressive, but traffic was so busy that I wasn't able to get a picture of it. I'm really sorry for that. It curves over a huge body of water with tide surges of up to 15 feet so the bridge is really high.
I had always heard about Whidby Island and after hearing about it, half wanted to live there. I have definitely changed my mind. Northern Whidby Island is home to the Whidby Island Naval Air Station and there is an almost constant stream of naval jet flyers taking off and landing. Really noisy. I know the Navy needs that training facility, but I am very glad that I don't live nearby. I found the lower part of Whidby
Island to be pretty unspectacular, (mostly scrubby vegetation) not at all what I had expected. I was also F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G!! We had left our winter coats (mine had a fuzzy hood), blankets, and thermal underwear in Bellingham to be brought to Hershey by Steve Hammatt to save space in the car. I had on a denim coat and Joe's denim duster and was about to die! My ears were frozen. We finally reached the Keystone Ferry Landing and took the ferry from Whidby Island to Port Townsend, just a short ferry ride away.
Landing in Port Townsend was like landing in another country and another century. It is is a marvelous place - full of Victorian buildings, art galleries, boutiques, book shops, great restaurants - so different than Whidby Island.
Just one of the many, many Victorian buildings in Port Townsend.
This old building had a magnificent Bull Durham Tobacco ad painted on the building.
After spending the night in Port Townsend, we traveled on to Sequim where we spent the night. The area from Port Townsend to Sequim was beautiful - farmland and lavender farms, lots of recreational activities - hiking, boating, etc. In Sequim, we called Dennis and Mary Hood, HCCA members, and went out to dinner. They met us in their 1914 Cadillac. It was beautiful - green and pristine. They arrived at the restaurant in their dusters with the top down on their Cadillac. Our car had already been put to sleep and covered at the hotel. We met them this morning at their home just outside Sequim where they had everything ready for Joe to give our very dirty car a much needed bath. Many thanks for the water, the soap, the brushes and the mitts. Our car just sparkles now. While Joe was busy doing the dirty work, I was visiting with Mary and enjoying a tour of their yard. Not long after leaving their place, Joe spotted an upholstery shop and stopped in to borrow a tool to replace a snap on one of the side curtains. Gary Smith was very accommodating and we appreciate his help.
As we traveled down Rt 101, we stopped for a brief time in Port Angeles to visit with HCCA members Bob and Mary Osann. We were very bad - we just drove up to their place without notice - something we try never to do. They were very gracious and while Joe was giving Bob a ride in our car, Mary and I were looking at all the landscaping that they have been doing at their new home overlooking the Olympic Mountains and the harbor at Port Angeles. Across the harbor you could see Vancouver Island in Canada and the ferry going over to Victoria. Mary had a turn in the car while her husband and I got to get to know each other a little. Many thanks for being so gracious on the spur of the moment!
We are spending the night in the little town of Fork on the western coast of WA. This was and still is a huge logging area.
Take a look at this H-U-G-E log with our E-M-F beside it. When it was logged in 1978, the log weighed over 70,000 lbs (35 tons) and they had to build a special road to get it out of the woods. The average number of growth rings per inch of wood is 20, so scientists have figured out that this tree was 1,250 years old when Columbus discovered America in 1492. They figure that the tree began its life in about the year 258 A.D.!!!!!! Amazing!!!
We expect to be in Moclips, WA tomorrow evening.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
THE STEERING COLUMN
About 3 weeks ago, I started having a problem with the engine idling rough, hard starting and a little loss of horsepower. When ascending a hill, it was not pulling smoothly and when descending, the engine didn't hold the car back as well, and would occasionally cough.
Whenever I am trying to troubleshoot an issue, I get back to basics and start reasoning it out. You need 3 basic things to make an engine run - gas, spark and compression, and of course each of these things need to be operating properly.
I had recently removed the carburetor, taken it apart and found no problem - the intake manifold was in good shape - I could find no vacuum leaks and I had good fuel flow to the carburetor. I had already replaced spark plugs, wires, and the magneto. The spark timing couldn't be off because the magneto coupling is pinned. That pretty much eliminated a spark issue.
Now I am focusing on compression or lack thereof. I remembered hearing a low, muffled tone from the exhaust pipe which was different It just sounded like there was a lack of compression. About 10,000 miles ago, number 4 exhaust value was stuck open. I had removed that valve, cleaned it up and replaced it and that was all that was needed. I was pretty certain that I was having the same problem again so for the last week or so I had been putting more lubricating additives in the fuel tank and squirting penetrating lubricants onto the lower end of the valve stems, hoping that the oil would find its way up into the valve guides. I had been doing this during the time we were in Alaska and didn't have an opportunity to work on the car.
When we returned from Alaska last Sunday, the car seemed to run a little better but was still not right. I went back to Mike Yeakle's shop and took that opportunity to start taking the valves out one at a time. I started with number 4, thinking that maybe that was all I would have to do. I was surprised to find that number 4 exhaust was well lubricated and moving freely, so I continued down the line removing each valve and found that all the valve stems were well lubricated and moving freely.
Closer inspection revealed that none of the valves were seating very well. Mike reground the 4 intakes, just enough to clean them up, (a recessed groove had been worn into the seating surface), then I did some serious lapping on each one, number 4 being the worst. I spent 2 hours lapping that one valve to a point where it looked like it was making a good seal. Once that was done, I inspected the tappets. Bingo, I found a definite problem. The tappet's adjusting bolts have a non-metallic insert on the top. The purpose of these is to deaden the "clicking" noise that valves make. Two of those inserts had fallen out on number 1 intake and number 2 exhaust. This causes a wild gap of at least 1/4 inch. When this happens, the valves won't fully open and they won't open and close at the right time. I could have replaced those inserts, but after discussing it with Mike, I decided it was best to eliminate all of those adjusting bolts with the inserts and replace them with plain grade 8 bolts, with their heads ground smooth. I figured this would make the "clicking" noise a little louder, but on the other hand, they would never cause me any problems.
This job is awkward and time consuming to do but it was necessary. It wasn't this trip that caused the problem, it was just time to do it. I spent 2 days working on it in Mike's shop. I found that additional "clicking" noise to be so slight that it is not bothersome at all. If anybody else has this problem, I would recommend this minor modification.
The car runs like new again and we are back on the road. As I write this, we have moved on to Port Townsend, WA, and this morning we will head west to Sequim, then Port Angeles and over to Rt 101 on the Pacific coast and from there, we will stay on the coast down to southern CA.
For those people along our route who are south of us who are expecting a visit, continue following this blog for updates.
---------AND THAT'S ALL PART OF MOTORING-------
About 3 weeks ago, I started having a problem with the engine idling rough, hard starting and a little loss of horsepower. When ascending a hill, it was not pulling smoothly and when descending, the engine didn't hold the car back as well, and would occasionally cough.
Whenever I am trying to troubleshoot an issue, I get back to basics and start reasoning it out. You need 3 basic things to make an engine run - gas, spark and compression, and of course each of these things need to be operating properly.
I had recently removed the carburetor, taken it apart and found no problem - the intake manifold was in good shape - I could find no vacuum leaks and I had good fuel flow to the carburetor. I had already replaced spark plugs, wires, and the magneto. The spark timing couldn't be off because the magneto coupling is pinned. That pretty much eliminated a spark issue.
Now I am focusing on compression or lack thereof. I remembered hearing a low, muffled tone from the exhaust pipe which was different It just sounded like there was a lack of compression. About 10,000 miles ago, number 4 exhaust value was stuck open. I had removed that valve, cleaned it up and replaced it and that was all that was needed. I was pretty certain that I was having the same problem again so for the last week or so I had been putting more lubricating additives in the fuel tank and squirting penetrating lubricants onto the lower end of the valve stems, hoping that the oil would find its way up into the valve guides. I had been doing this during the time we were in Alaska and didn't have an opportunity to work on the car.
When we returned from Alaska last Sunday, the car seemed to run a little better but was still not right. I went back to Mike Yeakle's shop and took that opportunity to start taking the valves out one at a time. I started with number 4, thinking that maybe that was all I would have to do. I was surprised to find that number 4 exhaust was well lubricated and moving freely, so I continued down the line removing each valve and found that all the valve stems were well lubricated and moving freely.
Closer inspection revealed that none of the valves were seating very well. Mike reground the 4 intakes, just enough to clean them up, (a recessed groove had been worn into the seating surface), then I did some serious lapping on each one, number 4 being the worst. I spent 2 hours lapping that one valve to a point where it looked like it was making a good seal. Once that was done, I inspected the tappets. Bingo, I found a definite problem. The tappet's adjusting bolts have a non-metallic insert on the top. The purpose of these is to deaden the "clicking" noise that valves make. Two of those inserts had fallen out on number 1 intake and number 2 exhaust. This causes a wild gap of at least 1/4 inch. When this happens, the valves won't fully open and they won't open and close at the right time. I could have replaced those inserts, but after discussing it with Mike, I decided it was best to eliminate all of those adjusting bolts with the inserts and replace them with plain grade 8 bolts, with their heads ground smooth. I figured this would make the "clicking" noise a little louder, but on the other hand, they would never cause me any problems.
This job is awkward and time consuming to do but it was necessary. It wasn't this trip that caused the problem, it was just time to do it. I spent 2 days working on it in Mike's shop. I found that additional "clicking" noise to be so slight that it is not bothersome at all. If anybody else has this problem, I would recommend this minor modification.
The car runs like new again and we are back on the road. As I write this, we have moved on to Port Townsend, WA, and this morning we will head west to Sequim, then Port Angeles and over to Rt 101 on the Pacific coast and from there, we will stay on the coast down to southern CA.
For those people along our route who are south of us who are expecting a visit, continue following this blog for updates.
---------AND THAT'S ALL PART OF MOTORING-------
Monday, July 20, 2015
Juneau was full of tourists, but also full of history.
This was native artwork on an apartment building. Really striking images.
This simple metal box about the size of an outdoor air-conditioning unit was transformed with the artwork. Amazing way to integrate native culture into everyday life.
While Joe and I were at the Juneau newspaper office, Joe was inside talking with a reporter and I was outside across the street where I saw these salmon in the shallows. There were hundreds of them! The salmon in this picture were about 4 feet long, 6-7 inches wide and just as thick! Hundreds of them!! The water was just churning with them.
This little boy was so excited to have caught a fish that he was running to show his granddad. This was one of the small salmon. I would have been happy to catch a fish this big.
This isn't a very good picture, but I wanted to show you just a hint of how many bald eagles were around. There are at least 10 in this picture which was taken just outside Juneau on the mudflats.
Joe in front of one of the most popular saloons in Juneau. Swinging doors, beer and dancing can-can girls - quite a trip back to the gold rush days. With the flannel shirt and blue jeans and beard he could have passed as a prospector just in from the claim ready to have a "night on the town"!
This newspaper boy in Juneau was all decked out in 1930's garb and hawking the daily paper. Where else could you see something like this except in the movies?
On the way back down the coast, we passed a tiny iceberg. Wonder where it came from and what it saw coming down the inland passage - bears, sea lions, whales and lots of cruise ships and fishing boats.
My favorite flower from Alaska - the fireweed. It's about 4 feet high it makes a real splash of color in the woods because, it is, after all a weed.
The trip back from Juneau was lazy and we spent a good part of it napping and reading. It is going to be tough getting back into a routine.
 |
| ICEBERG !!!! |
This was native artwork on an apartment building. Really striking images.
This simple metal box about the size of an outdoor air-conditioning unit was transformed with the artwork. Amazing way to integrate native culture into everyday life.
While Joe and I were at the Juneau newspaper office, Joe was inside talking with a reporter and I was outside across the street where I saw these salmon in the shallows. There were hundreds of them! The salmon in this picture were about 4 feet long, 6-7 inches wide and just as thick! Hundreds of them!! The water was just churning with them.
This little boy was so excited to have caught a fish that he was running to show his granddad. This was one of the small salmon. I would have been happy to catch a fish this big.
This isn't a very good picture, but I wanted to show you just a hint of how many bald eagles were around. There are at least 10 in this picture which was taken just outside Juneau on the mudflats.
Joe in front of one of the most popular saloons in Juneau. Swinging doors, beer and dancing can-can girls - quite a trip back to the gold rush days. With the flannel shirt and blue jeans and beard he could have passed as a prospector just in from the claim ready to have a "night on the town"!
This newspaper boy in Juneau was all decked out in 1930's garb and hawking the daily paper. Where else could you see something like this except in the movies?
On the way back down the coast, we passed a tiny iceberg. Wonder where it came from and what it saw coming down the inland passage - bears, sea lions, whales and lots of cruise ships and fishing boats.
My favorite flower from Alaska - the fireweed. It's about 4 feet high it makes a real splash of color in the woods because, it is, after all a weed.
The trip back from Juneau was lazy and we spent a good part of it napping and reading. It is going to be tough getting back into a routine.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Back in Washington state this morning from our Alaska adventure. A piece of me is sad the trip is over and the other half wanted to kiss the ground of the lower 48 states!
Since we were without wi-fi for the duration of the trip up there, I'll try to bring you up
to date on our adventures.
I have always wanted to see Alaska and this trip was just the tip of the iceberg as far as exploration is concerned. If we return to Alaska, we've decided it would be best to fly to Anchorage or Fairbanks in the north, rent a car and drive modern to see the sights - we can cover more ground that way and see a greater variety of scenery. I believe we have seen what we need to see in southern AK.
If you will bear with me, I'll just take you on a photo journey up the inland passage from WA state to Ketchikan and Juneau and return. If you ever have the opportunity to take a boat to Alaska, I would definitely recommend going by ferry instead of cruise line. The ferry is much, much cheaper, has much fewer people and the accomodations are fine and the food is good. The cruise lines offer shows and the rooms are maybe more spacious but the difference in price doesn't warrant taking the cruise line in my opinion. The engine problems we encountered with the ferry, according to crew and many passengers that use the ferry system with regularity, were extremely rare, some having never experienced any problems in many years of regular travel.
We left from Bellingham, WA on the ferry along the Inland Passage which goes along the west coast of British Columbia and between islands on the west side of the water passage. As we made the decision to go to Alaska on the spur of the moment, no staterooms were available and we camped out up on the top deck in what the ferry called the "Solarium". We called it "Woodstock".
The Solarium was taken over by campers, some tent camping and some sleeping on the deck lounges and chairs. Tent city went up quickly with corners tied to the railings or secured with duck tape to the floor. There were heaters under the roof so it stayed comfortable when it was windy or rainy, which it was for most of the time we were on board.
Another view of "Woodstock". Many of our fellow campers were young hikers and some were "old hippies". I'm not sure that we fit either description but you could say that all of us up there were "adventurous" and "adaptable".
Joe and I found a long corner, in fact the last spot in the Solarium, and made it "home". We spent many hours up there talking, laughing and reading and napping. It's been years since we've had no schedule and no expectations and could just nap at will.
One of many small villages along the edge of the inland passage. The villages were small and so different from the villages in PA. Travel was primarily by boat and villages were few and far between. I like water but I also like being able to go to town in about 10 minutes and find anything I need and travel in the heated or air-conditioned comfort of my Subaru. I am spontaneous and adventurous but like my creature comforts, too. We were seeing these villages in summer, just think about them having to go places in winter! Not me!
The further north we traveled, the more rugged the coastline became with trees right down to the waterline. I kept my eyes peeled for bear, but no bears.
One of several lighthouses along the inland passage. This one was in such a beautiful setting. There were several along the inland passage which varied in width quite a bit. In some areas, we were close to shore on each side with markers to show the route among the rocks.
Numerous waterfalls were seen along the passage. This is definitely wild country.
Our first stop was Ketchikan, Alaska in the chillly rain. It claims to be the Salmon Capital of the World. Yes, no? Their claim to fame. There were several cruise ships in port and downtown was F-U-L-L of tourists just off the cruise ships. Downtown was definitely geared toward the tourist trade - curio shops, high-end jewelry shops with designer label watches, big diamonds and other gemstones, furs from sable to mink to exotic and art galleries with high-end artwork. We entered one art gallery and a man tried his best to get us to buy a sculpture that was in the $40,000 range. What a joke. I like art but I like to make my own selection and never in the price range he was pushing, and I mean pushing!
Totem pole in park in Ketchikan. The totems were really interesting. As an anthropology student, I studied Alaskan art and to really see a totem pole was a thrill.
Use your imagination here. There is an eagle on the left flying toward the top of the tree where there is another eagle already resting. This was taken along the inland passage in the rain. We saw many eagles, porpoises, orcas (black and white) killer whales like you see at Sea World, humpback whales and salmon throughout the ferry trip up and back. Since the weather was not very cooperative, pictures were few.
This cute little boat is called a Seine boat. It drops a net over board and uses the small boat at the back to drag the net in a circle to make a net trap for fish. The net is then hoisted with the crane into the boat. The haul is taken to a 'tender' that buys the catch so that the boat can go back out and fish some more. This gives the fisherman more time on the water since they don't have to go all the way back into shore each time to sell their fish. They catch halibut, several varieties of salmon, rockfish and others. Fishing is B-I-G business in Alaska.
After three days on the ferry, we arrived in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Juneau is unique in that you can only get into or out of town by boat or airplane. It is larger in area than Rhode Island and Delaware. There are no roads out of the Juneau area that connect to other areas of Alaska because of the rugged terrain. Downtown is at sea level but quickly rises to about 4,000 ft and from the Juneau Icefields atop the mountains flow about 30 glaciers, the largest of which is Mendenhall Glacier.
Area at base of Mendenhall Glacier, wetlands and Mendenhall Lake in the background. This is prime salmon spawning area but that is later in the summer. That was fine with me since salmon spawning brings the bears in numbers to the area. The day we visited the glacier we were watchful for bears on the trails, but encountered none.
Mendenhall Glacier and Mendenall Lake ( in the fog and drizzle).
Glacial rock at Mendenhall Glacier. Note how smooth the rock has been ground down by glacial action over eons.
This rock shows the scoring or marks left by rocks and debris dragged across it as the glacier receded. It's amazing the power of nature.
Downtown Juneau was busy with tourists - 3 to 7 big cruise ships dock each day with thousands of tourists from many countries. There were many of the same types of shops as in Ketchikan but more variety and if you walked away from the cruise ship docking areas, there were some really nice shops and galleries with reasonable prices. Many of the areas of Juneau retain the original buildings from the Gold Rush days so there is a sense of continuity and history there. The first Europeans to see the area were there in the 1790's and in the 1880's a native showed a mining engineer where there were gold nuggets as big as peas or beans. That started more exploration and gold was soon found across the channel on Douglas Island where a very productive hard rock mining operation and stamp mill was set up.
Downtown Juneau with mountains rising right from base of town.
Take a look at the steps leading up the mountain just off the main drag in Juneau. The people of Juneau - in the gold rush days and today - were and are hardy people!
I'll take a break for a while and write more later. Much more to tell and many more photos to post.
Since we were without wi-fi for the duration of the trip up there, I'll try to bring you up
to date on our adventures.
I have always wanted to see Alaska and this trip was just the tip of the iceberg as far as exploration is concerned. If we return to Alaska, we've decided it would be best to fly to Anchorage or Fairbanks in the north, rent a car and drive modern to see the sights - we can cover more ground that way and see a greater variety of scenery. I believe we have seen what we need to see in southern AK.
If you will bear with me, I'll just take you on a photo journey up the inland passage from WA state to Ketchikan and Juneau and return. If you ever have the opportunity to take a boat to Alaska, I would definitely recommend going by ferry instead of cruise line. The ferry is much, much cheaper, has much fewer people and the accomodations are fine and the food is good. The cruise lines offer shows and the rooms are maybe more spacious but the difference in price doesn't warrant taking the cruise line in my opinion. The engine problems we encountered with the ferry, according to crew and many passengers that use the ferry system with regularity, were extremely rare, some having never experienced any problems in many years of regular travel.
We left from Bellingham, WA on the ferry along the Inland Passage which goes along the west coast of British Columbia and between islands on the west side of the water passage. As we made the decision to go to Alaska on the spur of the moment, no staterooms were available and we camped out up on the top deck in what the ferry called the "Solarium". We called it "Woodstock".
The Solarium was taken over by campers, some tent camping and some sleeping on the deck lounges and chairs. Tent city went up quickly with corners tied to the railings or secured with duck tape to the floor. There were heaters under the roof so it stayed comfortable when it was windy or rainy, which it was for most of the time we were on board.
Another view of "Woodstock". Many of our fellow campers were young hikers and some were "old hippies". I'm not sure that we fit either description but you could say that all of us up there were "adventurous" and "adaptable".
Joe and I found a long corner, in fact the last spot in the Solarium, and made it "home". We spent many hours up there talking, laughing and reading and napping. It's been years since we've had no schedule and no expectations and could just nap at will.
One of many small villages along the edge of the inland passage. The villages were small and so different from the villages in PA. Travel was primarily by boat and villages were few and far between. I like water but I also like being able to go to town in about 10 minutes and find anything I need and travel in the heated or air-conditioned comfort of my Subaru. I am spontaneous and adventurous but like my creature comforts, too. We were seeing these villages in summer, just think about them having to go places in winter! Not me!
The further north we traveled, the more rugged the coastline became with trees right down to the waterline. I kept my eyes peeled for bear, but no bears.
One of several lighthouses along the inland passage. This one was in such a beautiful setting. There were several along the inland passage which varied in width quite a bit. In some areas, we were close to shore on each side with markers to show the route among the rocks.
Numerous waterfalls were seen along the passage. This is definitely wild country.
Our first stop was Ketchikan, Alaska in the chillly rain. It claims to be the Salmon Capital of the World. Yes, no? Their claim to fame. There were several cruise ships in port and downtown was F-U-L-L of tourists just off the cruise ships. Downtown was definitely geared toward the tourist trade - curio shops, high-end jewelry shops with designer label watches, big diamonds and other gemstones, furs from sable to mink to exotic and art galleries with high-end artwork. We entered one art gallery and a man tried his best to get us to buy a sculpture that was in the $40,000 range. What a joke. I like art but I like to make my own selection and never in the price range he was pushing, and I mean pushing!
Totem pole in park in Ketchikan. The totems were really interesting. As an anthropology student, I studied Alaskan art and to really see a totem pole was a thrill.
Use your imagination here. There is an eagle on the left flying toward the top of the tree where there is another eagle already resting. This was taken along the inland passage in the rain. We saw many eagles, porpoises, orcas (black and white) killer whales like you see at Sea World, humpback whales and salmon throughout the ferry trip up and back. Since the weather was not very cooperative, pictures were few.
This cute little boat is called a Seine boat. It drops a net over board and uses the small boat at the back to drag the net in a circle to make a net trap for fish. The net is then hoisted with the crane into the boat. The haul is taken to a 'tender' that buys the catch so that the boat can go back out and fish some more. This gives the fisherman more time on the water since they don't have to go all the way back into shore each time to sell their fish. They catch halibut, several varieties of salmon, rockfish and others. Fishing is B-I-G business in Alaska.
After three days on the ferry, we arrived in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Juneau is unique in that you can only get into or out of town by boat or airplane. It is larger in area than Rhode Island and Delaware. There are no roads out of the Juneau area that connect to other areas of Alaska because of the rugged terrain. Downtown is at sea level but quickly rises to about 4,000 ft and from the Juneau Icefields atop the mountains flow about 30 glaciers, the largest of which is Mendenhall Glacier.
Area at base of Mendenhall Glacier, wetlands and Mendenhall Lake in the background. This is prime salmon spawning area but that is later in the summer. That was fine with me since salmon spawning brings the bears in numbers to the area. The day we visited the glacier we were watchful for bears on the trails, but encountered none.
Mendenhall Glacier and Mendenall Lake ( in the fog and drizzle).
Glacial rock at Mendenhall Glacier. Note how smooth the rock has been ground down by glacial action over eons.
This rock shows the scoring or marks left by rocks and debris dragged across it as the glacier receded. It's amazing the power of nature.
Downtown Juneau with mountains rising right from base of town.
Take a look at the steps leading up the mountain just off the main drag in Juneau. The people of Juneau - in the gold rush days and today - were and are hardy people!
I'll take a break for a while and write more later. Much more to tell and many more photos to post.
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