North Cascades

Despite living in western Montana 13 years and having traveled much of the Northwest, we had never been to the North Cascades. (The Bitterroots, the Tetons and Winds were much closer). And so, having elected a more westerly return to Menlo Park over the next month, we decided to cross the Cascades, not once but twice, doing the Cascade Loop, which consists mostly of Washington route 20 and US route 2. With a long stop to see friends in Oak Harbor, Whidbey Island, this took several days. Below are pix from the westbound crossing of the range. We thought we might stop for a short hike along the way, but the snow level--route 20 had just been opened--convinced us to stay in the RV.

Approaching the North Cascades, Roosevelt (as in FDR) Lake
and Grand Coulee Dam

At 555 feet, the highest of US dams

Crossing the Depression-era bridge

Excellent signage on the bridge

Passing through Winthrop, WA, a cute, westernized New England town

Now at 4,000-5,000 feet, in the middle of the Cascades

Lots of peaks and pinnacles, though the altitude isn't that much

We stopped for lunch at a turn-out at just over 5,000 feet

At Rainy Pass, about midway between Winthrop and Newhalem

Now on the downward side, at an overlook above Diablo Lake;
helpful map

Diablo Lake and North Cascades

Across The Wide Columbia

After Lake Quinault, we got as far as Raymond and spent the night there savage-camping at the local Piggly Wiggly. Next day we mostly drove, taking in some dunes, Oceanside, Cape Disappointment, the mouth of the Columbia, across the river and on into Oregon, staying on US 101 or whatever else was closest to the coast. A good bit of Lewis and Clark country, most of which we had visited during the Bicentennial in 2006-2008. Then on, past increasingly gorgeous coastal scenes to Tillamook ("Eat Cheese Or Die"), where we stayed at the Blue Heron French Cheese Company. We figured we'd seen enough of Tillamook brand cheese, having lived in the inland Northwest and then the west coast for a time. But I digress.

A bit of Cape Disappointment, scene of many shipwrecks

Another broad beautiful sandy beach

Now across the river, past Astoria, on the beach in Seaside for a lunch stop

Seaside has some great Art Deco buildings which we, alas, did not stop to fully
appreciate; or photograph; next time

Moving right along down the coast

Beginning to remember just how impressive the Oregon coast is...

Finally landing in Tillamook, at the Blue Heron French Cheese Company, which
offered over-night parking for RVs; right next to the old farm and logging
equipment; and petting zoo

Olympic National Park: Lake Quinault And World Record Sitka Spruce

It's a big national park, including some isolated units, and, as I've observed, more diverse than any we have seen before. Our tour continued with a visit to Lake Quinault and the historic Lake Quinault Lodge, and then a drive and short hike to see the world's largest Sitka Spruce. We spent the night, October 14th, in Raymond. It was to be our last day in the park and our last in Washington.

View from from Kalalach campsite

Lake Quinault Lodge

They average 12 feet of rain a year here; but not this day, as Aragorn would say

Big room in the Lodge

The whole thing was built in a matter of weeks; by the same builder who later
did the Gallatin Gateway Lodge, site of one of my first meetings with the Montana
Committee for the Humanities, way back in 1996

Construction documentation

Outside, lake and grounds

Totem/rain gauge

Back inside, ceiling decor

More documentation: research on Bigfoot

Sign of the place: in a nearby general store, rain chains...

Or, ce n'est pas un sentier, as Magritte would say

One of the more interesting "tear drops" we have seen; we briefly owned one,
of plastic molded construction, back in the late 90s;  another proto-type that
did not pan out; we sold it after a few trips and soon bought another truck
camper, a Roamin' Chariot, built in Spokane, Washington (previously we had
briefly owned a Palamino; but I digress...)

Not the Big Tree, but an interestingly hollowed out spruce

Fine print; Vicki always reads this stuff while I am off trying
to find the right light, the right angle and frame...had I read
it we might have stayed to see all the Champion Trees of
the Valley, to complete our set; Champion Trees are a big
deal in the UK of GB, as we well know

The Big Sitka Spruce

View of Lake Quinault

Like most of the peninsula we've seen, it's remote and very sparsely populated;
here, a few cabins around the lake, a few farms; 12 feet of rain on average...

Olympic National Park: Ruby Beach And Kalalach

Our tour of the park continued, with stops at Ruby Beach, a Big Tree, and encampment at Kalalach.

At Ruby Beach, more beautiful coastal seascapes

Apart from the currents, the cold water, there are additional reasons not to swim from
these beaches 

Our camper up on the bluff

Driftwood house

There was a sign off the highway to a Big Tree, then a
gravel road, then a trail to a grove of many unidentified
Big Trees... 

At Kalalach

Pizza mushroom, just as in NZ; poisonous, presumably

Another broad beautiful beach

Oh yes, there was a sunset...