Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Interim Update

We are in York, UK, staying at the Lighthorseman Pub, a drunken chorus of "God Save the Queen" still resounding from the floor below after England's 2-0 defeat of Germany in the European Cup football series. It promises to get quieter with Sweden playing Ukraine in the evening match. 

How we got here is a longer story, mostly about Vicki's ingenuity and persistence. Long story short is that the UK recognizes Iceland as a "green" country--the US is still "amber"--and Iceland will let anyone in who has had both COVID-19 vaccinations. So we ventured to Iceland, not exactly on our bucket list but nonetheless well worth seeing, and spent 11 days in a very small rental van camper, touring the island, the Golden Circle, the Ring Road, Reykjavik, etc. And then, after the required pre-flight COVID tests, passenger locator forms, and such, we flew on to Heathrow, more tests, and a rental car ride here, en route to Edinburgh, to collect our belongings from the camper (Le Duc) we sold last summer. It's still in storage. The longer story will appear on the website, in due course, under the heading of "Vicki's Practical Guides to World Travel." It's quite a story.

It's been a few weeks since I posted anything on the blog, and even then I was a couple weeks behind. There are a dozen or so posts recounting our May and June travels in the US and then a dozen or so more recounting our visit to Iceland. And now England is underway. We spent today walking old York and touring the Minster, which we'd not seen since 2009. Lots more pix to select, edit, caption, and so on. But I promise to get better. Next week we'll begin two months in a London (Bloomsbury) apartment, and there should be some time then when we are not in motion. Stay tuned.

In the main room at the Lighthorseman; there were 2 or 3 other rooms, plus the
beer garden, all celebrating...we were in Croatia for much of the recent World
Cup series, and so are not unfamiliar with world football culture...


Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Steelhead Park

Unlike some other parts of the world, county parks in the US rarely include campgrounds, especially campgrounds with full amenities. The Howard Miller Steelhead Park, in Rockport, WA, on the beautiful Skagit River, is a stupendous exception: sixty-some river-front campsites, miles of trails, and a variety of historical structures and signage of interest. Miller was a fishing guide of note and later four-term county commissioner. 

Excellent signage

And artifacts...





Best trailhead signage ever, so far


Hiking the riparian trails


Beautiful Skagit River

Campsite


OK, rotate your screen clockwise 90 degrees: innovative use of
actual boulder for bouldering; in the kiddie park

Azaleas...

And rhododendrons in bloom all over western Washington

Even the bird-house tree was blooming