We’re travelers again, pulling our trailer to see three more National Parks in the Pacific Northwest, and a few friends along the way. The parks we will see include North Cascades NP (near the border of Canada), Olympic NP (on the peninsula across the sound from Seattle), and Mt. Rainer NP (south of Seattle/Tacoma area and just north of Mt. St. Helens).
We first stopped in Grass Valley and Sacramento to see our friends Ron & Sue and Blake & Peggy. It was great reconnecting with these dear friends who have recently moved to these new locations. Then, early Sunday morning we pulled our trailer onto Highway 5 going north.
There was a forest fire that closed Highway 5 north of Redding which forced us onto a detour, adding an additional two hours to our trip. But it was lovely driving through the town of Burney and seeing a lot of beautiful forests and mountains along the way. It was smokey due to the fire, but the drivers were patient and the stop-n-go three-mile backup near Burney wasn’t as bad as I feared it might be, probably because we were driving on a Sunday. We arrived in Grants Pass, Oregon, about 4 pm, and did our food shopping for the rest of the week.
It’s nice pulling the trailer to explore our world again. Our 23’ ‘Creekside’ trailer was assembled in eastern Oregon, and it is perfect for our getaways. On Sunday, we camped overnight a few miles from Grants Pass, overlooking a hill that is covered with trees and brush, just above a small waterfall on Jumpin Joe Creek. It was a quiet, beautiful, morning and we could see blue sky, hear the birds and a few nearby roosters, absolutely still, without a breath of wind. I slowed down to see what is in front of me: the shapes of the leaves and shades of greens.
On Monday, we drove to Eugene, and after setting up our trailer, we rode our bicycles along the Willamette River for a few miles into downtown, across the University of Oregon campus and got onto the field level of the Duck’s football stadium, followed by a great meal at a downtown pub near the railroad tracks. It’s great to be back on the road again!
