Wild West day 22

On the ferry from Port Townsend to Whidbey Is.  It was about a 35 minute trip for $41.00!  Well, it would have cost at least that had we driven all the way around through Tacoma, Seattle, Mount Vernon and then around to Whidbey Is.

On the way from the ferry up to Oak Harbor and Deception Pass we stopped by the Crockett blockhouse where we have been before...back in 1963.

Built in 1855, two such forts were built by and named after Colonel Walter Crockett on the Crockett farm during the Yakima Indian War.  This fort is the only one remaining at the original location.  Most of the original farm structures still exist behind this fort to and the left.

Love nests

The first was Triangle Apartments which was an old motel converted to single room apartments.  But, we didn't need much room then.  Here's a couple of photos taken Christmas of '62 in front of the Triangle Apartments.  My Navy buddy, Dennis Ashby, was visiting in his '55 Pontiac.  Our car was that old '55 white Nash in the background.

The second home was in Victory Housing, Navy housing. It was BIG!  Three rooms - living room, kitchen and bedroom. Oh yes, and bath. 

But, when I added a stripe the Navy said I was too high a rank to remain there. So, we moved to the home below.

Two things here. First, it's a beautiful house, but it was owned by an old widow woman back then and did not look so pretty as now. Second, we only lived upstairs.  In fact, we only had one room and shared a bath with some guy we seldom saw. The guy lived in a room (maybe two) in the upstairs area behind the right side gable. We had the room behind the shorter rounded gable. The kitchen area was in a corner and the bed rolled into a hole in the wall directly behind the small half-round window. If you pulled the bed out, you could see out the little window. In the photo below, the double window seen upstairs next to the chimney was our apartment. The eating table sat next to the window. A stairway lead up to the second floor from the back porch so we didn't have to parade through the old woman's living quarters. We parked our 1958 Volkswagen Beetle in the back.

We toured Ault Field, the Naval Air Station I was assigned to.  Much of it looked the same as it did over 50 years ago.  But, obviously, there were changes.  It sure brought back memories, good and bad.

Actually, there are two Navy bases there on Whidbey. Besides Ault Field, the is the seaplane base. Funny, I didn't know and still know the official name. We just referred to it as the "seaplane base".  Today, however, it is no longer a sea plane base. It now is mainly services for the sailors stationed at Ault Field, such as the Navy Exchange and Commissary, gas station and other stuff. It used to have the military hospital, but the hospital building is now part of a community college. On the peninsula just beyond the base is where the control tower and weather station was located along with the commissioned officers' housing. Today it is the main housing area for all married sailors stationed there. Sure looked nicer than our old Victory housing we lived in over 50 years ago.

Wild West day 21

We're still in the Hoh Rainforest campground, after a good night's sleep. It got dark before I could take more pictures last night. Here's Ditto and I checking out the Hoh River flowing by the camp. Here's what the campground looked like. It was a beautiful place with lots of moss covered trees. Then we had to leave the mossy wonderland and keep on trucking. But, on the way back out we had to stop at the big fir.   Joyce just loved standing there because it made her feel so small. I said, "feel"!!! Moving on, we made our way on up to the very tip of Olympic Peninsula to the Makah Indian reservation. My intent was to camp there, but we got there earlier than expected. So, we did a Clark Griswold look see, instead. Actually, there wasn't as much to see as I had hoped, but the tribal museum satisfied me. It was really quite an extensive museum. Unfortunately, they did not permit photos in the museum, just in the outer money making, trinket sales area. They did, however, have a real live dead totem pole. As we left the reservation, we passed the sacred burial grounds. We traveled along the northern coast of the Olympic Peninsula to Port Townsend. Arriving unannounced, we had to settle for the local fairgrounds campground. But, it was cheap, clean and turned out to be pretty interesting. I was walking Ditto at the fairgrounds when this homeless looking guy came rolling by in a wheelchair. I spoke and seemed to have hit a switch on the guy. He proceeded to tell me all about his jet plane that was in a shop being repainted and did I want to go somewhere in it when it was ready. About then a dog came running up and the guy told me what kind of breed it was and how much it was worth because it was so rare. This went on and on for quite some time. I tried to be polite and, at least, appeared to listen. Then I looked behind him and saw a young woman walking her dog. She made the mistake of greeting the guy and his attention turned toward her. I faded away, leaving the poor woman in his charge. Later Joyce and I saw where he was staying. It was up in the corner of the campground. He had a couple of blue tarps tied down low and looking like small versions of Arab desert dweller tents. So, I guess he looked homeless because he was.

Wild West day 20

Leaving Fort Stevens, we continued on up Hwy 101, crossing the bridge at Astoria. As we approached, we could see work being done on the bridge. It was a bit disconcerting because it looked like a big Band-aid wrapped around it just to the right of the big span support. It was a pretty long bridge. In a distance we could see Mt. St. Helens or, at least, what's left of it.  We both wished we could get closer, but we were beginning to run behind schedule and needed to move on.  Rosie was waiting for us in Idaho. We traveled most of the day through the spruce and fir forests, still on Hwy 101. Our goal was the Makah Indian Reservation at the extreme NW of the Olympic Peninsula. But, as the day wore on, it became obvious that was a bigger bite than we'd like. Just too far for the old folks. So, we began looking for a suitable substitute campground. We found one in the Hoh Rain Forest in the middle of the Olympic National Forest. The sign said 12.5 miles. A bit far off the road, but what the heck. We were on an adventure. The road was narrow with huge trees closing in on both sides all covered with heavy moss. We finally came to the ranger gatehouse, waved our "old farts" card at him and proceeded on. The next sign read "campground 6.5 mi." Huh! That makes it 18 miles back here. It better be worth it. It was. Then I noticed the blond and brunette camped right across from us in a tent.

Wild West day 19

We left Oregon Coast RV Resort and headed up the coast of Oregon on Hwy 101. It's a nice scenic drive like Ca. Hwy 1, but not quite as kinky. And it was a fairly clear day so the coast was clear...so to speak, not like the California coast we couldn't see a couple of days ago.

We stopped at a "Sea Lion Cave" tourist trap, but didn't get trapped. I got this photo of the walk down to the cave. While standing there, some old guy asked if I had gone down there. When I told him I had not, he said it was just as well because it smelled like sea lion shit.

We made it all the way to the NW corner of Oregon. We're now camped at Fort Stevens State Park. This is a really nice park with lots of campsites...most with probably 2 dozen kids each...or so it seems. But, they all have crashed now after a day at the beach and a muffled silence has settled over the park...except for that one persistent dog...and buzzing mosquitoes.

Wild West day 18

We arrived at Oregon Coast RV Resort (formerly Surfwood RV Campground) just south of Reedsport in Oregon. I had planned to get a little further up the coast, but fizzled out. The park we stayed in was okay for overnight, but full of old farts like us. I wouldn't recommend it for a "fun" spot unless you are into some kind of geriatric studies.

I set up my Tailgater Dish TV antenna and soon had an audience full of questions, mainly how did it work and how much did it cost. Later as Ditto took me for a walk, a guy came driving up in a pickup pulling a boat. In the back of his truck were 6 or 8 crab traps. But, he didn't have any luck. He had set them out too late, he explained.

Wild West day 17

Hit Crater Lake today.  Man! Is this worth the trip!  The road had a spot or two closed due to mud slides from winter snow melt, so we couldn't go all the way around, but we traveled most of the way. Proceeding on, we found a nice quiet little primitive National Forest campground beside Diamond Lake near Crater Lake in Oregon.  I think the name was Umpqua/Thielsen View Campground. It did not remain quiet for long, however.  Being Friday, it wasn't long before some weekenders moved in across from us and the noise began.

Wild West day 16

Mountain Man RV Park

This park is a nice little quiet park and well outfitted.  Once again, I failed to get a photo here and I don't know why.  I had plenty of time.

We parked backed up to the West Fork of the Illinois River.  The park was layed out in sort of a two part park.  We are at one end where most campers are short timers like us.  The other end is more seasonal and permanent campers.  The park is located on the western fringe of the Redwood forest and has several huge Redwoods in the park.  Ditto and I were walking around the camp road loop when I noticed several big pine cones on the ground...I mean BIG pine cones.  So, I picked one up for a souvenir and just as I did, a guy came driving in a black pickup.  He circled on around the loop and stopped at his campsite just a couple of sites down from the shower house.  Later, the guy came over and said he had noticed me picking up pine cones.  My first thought was perhaps it was against the law.  But then, he asked if I wanted a rock souvenir and that he had some in the back of his truck.  Then my thoughts went to Lucille Ball and The Long Long Trailer.  So, I declined and we continued visiting for awhile with no more mention of souvenirs.  Then just before dark, Ditto and I were checking out the shower house and we walked by the black pickup and the guy was there at his campsite.  He raised the question about collecting rocks again only this time I was standing right by the truck.  He reached in and picked up a pinkish colored rock about the size of large grapefruit and tossed it to me.  I instinctively braced for the heavy rock.  When I caught it, though, it was like a piece of Styrofoam.  He laughed and explained it was pumice, a rock formed from a dust from volcanic action.  It's mostly air.  In fact, it will actually float until it becomes waterlogged.  So, I kept it.  If Lucy had collected pumice, Desi would not have had so much trouble trying to tow their trailer.