Full Circle

We've come full circle and are back in Anacortes. Alpine is parked, plugged in, and back in our same site at Fidalgo Bay Resort.
It's strange to be back, without a destination to anticipate, and it already feels like our trip was just a dream.
As if on cue, as soon as we turned on to route 20 from I-5, gentle raindrops greeted us. The winds picked up and it felt freezing cold when we pulled in at the casino right before Fidalgo Bay to fill up.
I don't remember the last time we saw rain but now that we are back in the NorthWET, as I like to call it, we have had our wet welcome!

This morning, we left Toppenish and drove to Aubrey's RV Center in Yakima. I didn't really know what to expect but I certainly did not anticipate seeing walls of animal trophy heads staring back at me in an RV supply store. That was a surprise. The animals look to me as if they are just as surprised to find themselves gazing at spare RV parts. Of course I was curious and asked Carolyn why kudu, wildebeest, and gemsbok heads were keeping watch over rows of RV parts here in Yakima. These are African animals after all!
She told me her father and brother have hunted in Montana for the past thirty plus years and that it was their dream to do some big game hunting in Africa. That dream came true when they went on a safari in Namibia and brought back their trophy animals.

Kudu

Blue Wildebeest

Gemsbok

Black Wildebeest

Impala

Red Hartebeest

That's our Alpine outside Aubrey's RV Center in Yakima

Carolyn at Aubrey's also told us about the history behind the Alpine manufacturing plant that was here. She now has a collection of bits and pieces unique to the Alpine coach. We picked up a few items as spares and now that we know about Aubrey's, have a contact person if we ever have questions about our coach interior.

Yakima and Union Gap are just beyond this gap between the hills

On the way to Yakima, we drove through the town of Union Gap, which is of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap fame  - he grew up in Yakima, close to the town.

From Yakima it's a straight and simple run on I-90 to Bellevue. Whenever we travel along this stretch, it reminds me of the time we first drove I-90 to the Seattle area when we moved from New Jersey. The scenery was spectacular then and 35 years later, it still is just as spectacular.
Eastern Washington is dry and brown, and also the fertile area where crops and fruit trees thrive in the sunshine and warmth. Washington Sate is one of the major growers of apples and pears.

a typical scene with orchards and packing boxes

The landscape becomes more dry again, with gorges and chasms, before climbing up and then descending into the valley and the town of Ellensburg.

more rifts and gorges

descending into Ellensburg in the valley below (this one for you Graz!), with
the snow capped Cascade range ahead

still in the sun, driving towards the mountains ahead

Once we crossed the Cascade Range at Snoqualmie Pass (3,022 ft), we were back in forested and green landscape. This is where the gray clouds gather and shower us with their abundant rain. The tall peaks are still as impressive as when I first saw them as we crossed them for the first time in 1980.

We stopped at home in Bellevue very briefly just to pick up our Audi. Michael negotiated the tight turns and the overhanging trees in our neighborhood expertly and we were able to park outside the house. Our neighbors came running over to check out the Alpine. Said they couldn't miss it as we drove past their house. Ha! Any excuse to come aboard. Others coming up our hill had to give the Alpine a wide berth, and gave me a quizzical look. I suspect the word has spread about that enormous bus the Weitzes had outside their home.

Following behind Alpine, I sneaked a couple of shots of our home on wheels as we made our way out of the neighborhood. This is what we look like on the road.

We will spend the night in Anacortes then head home tomorrow. It will feel strange to be back home and I know that there is a lot of work awaiting us since our absence. I would much rather be on the road still. It's been a wonderful trip, with a mix of relaxation (at Pismo); spending time with friends (the SoCal group); meeting new friends (the Alpine group and other Washington folks we met along the way); touring (the Reagan Library and the Nerthercutt Museum, Lone Pine, Alabama Hills, Manzanaar); learning a lot of new information about the inner workings of a coach (at the Pomona rally); spending time with family and new Alpine friends (in Bend); having service and repairs done on Alpine; and traveling a route new to us. And all of that in a matter of seven and a half weeks and 2,700 miles.
Life sure is an adventure in our Alpine.

That's it for now.... I'll be back once we are back on the road in a couple of months again. Can't wait!

Made it to Washington State

We left Bend this morning. But not before stopping off at Bend RV and Repair. That darned right back jack retracted yet again over the weekend. Jeff cleaned out a speck of debris in the new solenoid and we waited for about an hour with the jacks down, to test that the right one would hold. It did and by 11 AM we were on the road, heading north to our next stop at Yakama Nation RV Park in Toppenish, Washington.

My clicking finger was busy on this leg along route 97, which we have driven in the past. This is also the "Journey Through Time Oregon Scenic Byway." I wish I knew more about geology to be able to read the history of the topography in this region. What I do know is that tremendous forces shaped this terrain which changed dramatically as we drove along.

Here is what we saw along this scenic byway:

It was a clear, sunny day and Mt Hood's pointy peak was visible for miles.

Flat topped buttes began to appear - 

Followed by sections which looked like they had been mixed but not quite blended together..

Followed by rifts and chasms...

and a deep gorge with a river..

Then the land flattened again, enabling farmers to grow crops and trees.. with Mt Hood still visible to the west..

Once again we climbed and entered a landscape of eroded gorges...

At one point, the hill tops looked like stair steps descending into the valley below...

The landscape became a jumble of textures and colors...

We wound our way between the rocky outcrops...

On the horizon the next volcano appeared, Mt Adams with its rounded peak..

Along one section, we could see Mt Hood in the driver's window and Mt Adams in my window..and I wished that I had a panoramic lens to catch them together.

We began the descent towards the Columbia River, and were amazed at the number of wind turbines on the horizon.

There were hundreds of these turbines, doing their crazy three-legged spins.

We crossed the mighty Columbia River leaving Oregon and entering Washington.

Looking back, you can see the enormous gorge cut by the river, and the fields and orchards hugging the slopes.

We climbed back up above the gigantic gorge...

About another hour to Toppenish, which is right before Yakima.

This is the closest we have been to these wind giants, and they truly are huge.

Mt Adams loomed even larger along this section.

The road wound its way through a forested patch where there had been a recent fire.

The Yakima valley appeared in the distance now.

We arrived at the Yakama Nation RV Park, with its large community building, museum and gift shop. It was a warm afternoon and we went for a walk after our 4 o'clock tea. Later as the sun was setting, I took these shots of the dramatic sky.

And in the after glow, Mt Adams was a spectacular silhouette in the distance.

Tomorrow's agenda is to stop in Yakima, the birthplace of Alpine. There is an RV store that still carries some Alpine parts and we will go there to take a look. From Yakima it's a short distance to Bellevue, where we will stop at home to pick up our car and then drive to Anacortes where Alpine will be in residence until our next trip in a couple of months.