SMOKEJUMPERS and A
FUN BUMPY RIDE! (June/July 2018)
Smokejumpers
Winthrop, Washington is a small town in Washington
state. On our honeymoon in 1984, we
passed through this tiny town and enjoyed the "western" style of the
town. Then the population was 300 people
(max.) and now here we are in 2018
camping with friends, Nita, Tom, Malissa and Reynolds in the now booming
populated town of 700.
Arriving the day
before, we checked out a local
attraction called North Cascades Smokejumpers.
We knew little about smokejumpers except they are a firefighting team
jumping from planes at a thousand feet.
It turned out to be a little more involved as it was explained during
our personal tour of the facility. The
seasonal firefighters on duty were eager to show us around and explain their
gear and occupation. Our tour guide was
in his thirties and not your typical looking firefighter with his small build
and long brown hair. Periodically a
fellow firefighter stopped in offering more details of the job. Seasonal smokejumpers sleep at their location
waiting to be called to a fire. Recently
they returned from a fire in Alaska and occasionally assist with fires in
neighboring countries. They have to be
ready on a moment's notice with gear and parachutes packed. Each
firefighter is responsible for mending and proficiently folding their parachute
to ensure safety. The smokejumpers are
flown to the destination forest fires landing near the base of the fire while
carrying parachutes and various equipment.
The Methow
Valley (North Cascades Smokejumpers) is the birthplace of smoke jumping founded
in the 1930's. Most firefighters are
seasonal living in other states with different jobs in the off season. Firefighters are an admirable career but
smokejumpers take it to a new, exciting level.
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| Our smokejumper tourguide |
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| Neatly organized parachutes |
Friends, Fun and playing in the "bumpy"
Side-By-Side!
Our camping
spot was right along the Methow River and soon Tom, Nita, Malissa and Reynolds
arrived with their 36' ft. plus fifth-wheel toy haulers. Toy haulers accommodate four-wheelers,
side-by-sides, bikes, etc. and the four brought their side-by-sides.
They arrived
ready to play, ride and party! This was
going to be a fun few days of exploring and celebrating Perry's birthday. I could sense how happy he was being here,
not far from his childhood town of Mansfield and spending time with his best
childhood friend, Nita and the rest of the fun crew.
Tom and Nita
added a bucket seat to the back of their side-by-side with enough room for
Perry and I.
They knew all the off roads
to explore in the Okanogan National Forest and the six of us went for hours
along rough, rocky roads.
A recent storm
downed
trees on some of the trails we
were on,
but Tom and Reynolds with their
chainsaws cleared the paths.
We absorbed
the beauty of the Okanogan National Forest not accessible by car.
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| Thank goodness for chainsaws! |
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| Okanogan National Forest |
Our evenings
ended with barbecues, campfires and Nita and Malissa trying to teach me to
crochet. It was like teaching me to
dance (impossible) only having two left hands……I just couldn't get it! I wasn't sure I wanted to learn but somehow
this would haunt me months later.
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| Crochet lessons around the campfire |
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| Side By Side Fun! |
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| Our fun crew and Gracie! |
This part of
our adventure was over and we would see everyone again in Perry's hometown of
Mansfield, after visiting Canada in July.
For now we were heading towards the beautiful Cascade mountains for more
hiking.
THE AMAZING CASCADES BUT FIRST….STRANDED ON THE HIGHWAY!
Upon leaving we did our usual checks and one of the
fifth-wheel tires seemed a little puffy.
With tire air check in proper range, we headed towards the mountains on
the two-lane Highway 20. Less than an
hour into the drive of our next destination we heard it! A "thwarp, thwarp"…..yes a blown
tire! Other RVer's blow tires while
driving but we're always careful to make sure our tires are in good shape. Carefully pulling off the highway, we
realized there was no service and it was a forty-five minute drive to a service
area. The fifth-wheel was unhitched and
left on the highway (chain-up area) as Perry and I drove into a service
area. Broken down in a no service area
AND it was a Sunday! After calling a few
places, one business was open willing to
assist us but it would be a couple hours. Great! Stranded on a highway with one of seven tires
popped leaving tread on the highway.
Nearly two and a half hours sitting off the highway with cars zooming
past, finally someone stopped to see if we needed help. An Okanogan county State Trooper stopped to
tell us (more in a scolding manner) it was OUR responsibility to remove tread
from the highway. Really? Neither one of us were comfortable in darting
around cars trying to remove tread which posed no danger to other cars. With respect for authority, state troopers,
etc. THIS State Trooper offered no help. After three hours, tire was fixed and we
continued on to our destination of Rockport/Marblemount, Washington part of the
North Cascade mountains.
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| The long "no service" highway |
LOVING THE NORTH CASCADES!
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| Frolicking in the snow |
Appreciating the beautiful outdoors, we explored and
hiked along the scenic Ross Lake Recreation Area, the Skagit River and Rainy Lake. The trails
were well traveled so the fear of bears thankfully wasn't too great. Though it
was summer there was some snow on the ground occasionally slushing our way
through as we hiked. We put many miles
on our legs that week and thankfully the scenery was distracting from sore
feet.
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| Hiking along Diablo Lake |
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| Sore Feet! |
Everything is lush vibrant green
with plenty of flowing rivers and beautiful flowers in bloom. Our Fourth of July was celebrated in this
area with limited fireworks going off in the campground. A side trip to Baker Lake was a favorite of
mine. The deep blue lake not far from
Mount Baker was a quiet, peaceful gem.
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| A moss "creature" along a trail |
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| Stunning Mount Baker |
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| Serene Baker Lake |
A smart decision was made to get the rest of the
fifth-wheel tires checked during our next stop at Whidbey Island,
Washington. The three week stay on the
Navy Base would bring many opportunities to explore.
Whidbey Island, Washington
Whidbey Island is a
two-part U.S. Naval Base located in Oak Harbor.
Staying at many Navy Bases over the past couple years none were more noisy than the F-18's at
Whidbey! Perry refers to it as
"the sound of freedom". To see
them fly over the ocean was quite an amazing sight! My best friend's son was stationed here and
we were all planning a reunion. There
is so much to look forward to over the next three weeks.
"THE
LOCKOUT", WINE TASTING, COUPEVILLE, SAN JUAN ISLANDS
NAS Whidbey Island
sits right on the Pacific Ocean. If we did nothing else but watch the jets fly
over and watch the amazing sunsets, I'd be okay with it.
With a visit to the San Juan Islands planned,
I was also looking forward to a visit with my best friend from San Diego and her
family.
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| Michael giving dads' a tour |
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| A visit from Tom and Debbie |
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| Amazing sunset at NAS Whidbey Island |
Oak Harbor is a cute
town with lots of character, beautiful scenery, decent restaurants and the
necessary hair salon! The neighboring
town Coupeville is a short drive from Oak Harbor offering great seafood
restaurants with views of Mount Baker, artwork and wineries.
"THE LOCKOUT"
It was time to have
the tires replaced on the fifth wheel which required leaving it overnight.
Staying at the Navy Lodge for the one night
was nice in that we could spread out, sleep in a king sized bed and it accommodated
dogs.
After a good night sleep,
I woke up to walk Gracie (our dog) and bring
back coffee for Perry and I.
Using the
room key to open the door, it wouldn't open! Perry tried opening the door
from the inside….still no luck!
After
several attempts, I went to the front desk asking for help but was told it
would be a while (it was Saturday) before maintenance arrived.
I patiently waited until we decided to remove
the screen of the bottom floor window.
I
climbed through the window into the room,
delivering Perry's very cold coffee.
A good hour or more went by before maintenance arrived.
After several attempts at trying to fix the
lock, it was determined a new door lock was needed.
The circumstances struck me funny and
couldn't wait to share my humor with my best friend over a glass of wine.
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| Gracie ate breakfast while waiting for maintenance |
Debbie and Tom's son
Michael was flying EF-18's out of Whidbey Island. Upon their arrival he gave
the Dad's a grand tour while Debbie and I caught up on the past year. The five of us later enjoying wine tasting at
a nearby winery.
A side trip was made to Hurricane Ridge part of the Olympic National Park. This untouched picture-postcard beauty hasn't changed over the years.
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| Hurricane Ridge |
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| On our way to San Juan Islands |
THE SAN JUAN ISLANDS
Years ago
when our kids were small, we took them on vacations to Washington State. They
loved going on the ferries to the San Juan Islands. The ferry ride to Friday Harbor was the same
as it was decades ago but this time we were excited to spend a few days on the
popular Island where our friends lived for many years. A scenic drive around
the island took us to several beach areas, lavender fields (we enjoyed lavender
infused lemonade), alpaca farms and the San Juan National Historical park.
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| Acres of Lavender |
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| One sheered Alpaca! |
San Juan National Historical Park (War over a
PIG?!)
It happened here on
San Juan Island in the 1850's! Because
San Juan Island lay on the 49th parallel, Britain and the United States claimed
the island as their own. The British had
sheep grazing on the land (thus establishing a lucrative business) at the same
time 18 Americans had settled on the island.
One of the Americans shot and killed a British Company's pig that was
eating his garden. The British
government threatened to arrest the American but he sought military
protection. Tensions grew among the
two countries while the military presence grew for both. Rear Admiral R. Lambert Baynes of the
British Navy refused to take any military action against the Americans stating
he would not "involve two great nations in a war over a squabble about a
pig."
We enjoyed learning
about this small piece of history and watching the reenactment.
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| A historical reenactment |
On the north side of the island was the very
popular and scenic Roche Harbor. We
enjoyed a delightful late lunch on the water wrapping up our quick three day
tour. The return ferry ride was warm,
smooth and scenic especially taking Mount Baker into view.
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| A ferry to the San Juans. Mount Baker in the background |
Washington
State is beautiful and we have spent quite a bit of time here (we'll be back)
but now a new adventure awaits………….!
NEXT……..
Canada, Eh?!
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