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

Return To Missoula; 2021

April 29 we decamped, said our farewells, and left Menlo Park, again, for Missoula, our former home. Interstates 5 and 80, then US routes 95 and 12, mostly, our direct route to Montana. We've done it many times. The only major change we're seeing is the proliferation of hops farms in the region west of Boise: 45 degrees latitude, + or -, as hops seem to require. A good thing, the proliferation, which I attribute to the increased world-wide demand for IPA beers. We lucked out getting a campsite on the Lochsa at the USFS Wilderness Gateway campground on route 12, took some pix of our favorite wild and scenic river, did a short morning hike, and then headed on to Missoula and our time there. 

We were busy in Missoula, seeing friends, doing the usual reorganization/thinning out of our storage unit, and helping the Kim and Dave move from their home in the heights to their home in the flats, along with a massive garage sale. Too busy to take pix. Our last afternoon there, just before winter returned and we got out, we did walk a bit of the downtown, noting that a) much has changed and b) much has stayed the same (thankfully), and visiting Missoula's impressive new public library. "Impressive" is a major understatement, as is "state of the art." "Future of the art" is more fitting. Missoula deserves it. Another jewel for its crown of civic, recreational, literary, historical, and educational treasures. Now if they could only do something about the weather....

Hops; someone else's photo; just add barley, and water, and...

Driving through a major bug hatch on the Salmon River

The Lochsa, spring melt, 25 class IVs in 24 miles...the place 
loaded with rafters and kayakers

But we found a place at the Wilderness Gateway USFS campground

Driving higher and higher on route 12 toward the pass, patches of
snow started appearing at about 3,000 feet

Thus

Lolo Pass visitor center, pretty well dug-out, but the back roads
were still very snowbound

A bit of our storage unit, all covered against the 

inevitable dust and grit of the canyon winds

The view from a reading room at Missoula Public Library

Seed library

Laptop loan center

Part of the self-publishing array (?)

And ever more; not pictured: the library gift shoppe 

Return To Middle California, 2021; And Pinnacles National Park

On April 8 we drove back to Menlo Park for a brief stay, the highlights of which were a) a week-long camping trip with grand-daughter Penelope to old friend Pinnacles National Park, and b) Penelope's 10th birthday celebrations. 

Our campsite at Pinnacles

Back side

Right on the creek

Campsite visitor

Out on a hike, with new back pack, pointing out the Pinnacles

Poppies all over the valley floor

New-fangled Park Service trail signage

Below some of the pinnacles

With Grandpa, before boldly entering one of the trail's tunnels

Later, back home, Birthday Girl

Can't believe it's been 10 years!

Sierra Primavera

And so it came to pass that we left Pahrump (we'll always have Pahrump) and drove back across the Mojave into California and the greener land of the Central Valley--land of fruits and nuts--and eventually up into the western foothills of the Sierra, about 30 miles south of Yosemite National Park. Our destination was the Park of the Sierras Escapees' RV park, near Coarsegold, CA. We were there almost two weeks, including an initial stay at the nearby Chukchansi Casino. We were quite enamored of Park of the Sierras, the terrain and natural landscaping, mostly, but also the situation, not too far from Coarsegold and Yosemite and only half an hour's drive to Fresno. It was early spring when we arrived, everything green and budding and blooming, adding to the interest. The Park was still on a mostly buttoned-down basis due to COVID, so we didn't fraternize with the residents much, but we very much liked what we saw. 

Google view of the Park of the Sierras; all the 
previous Escapee RV parks we've visited have
been laid out on right angle grids...flatlanders...
not this park, in the foothills of the Sierras, it's
very hilly, but very scenic; getting our daily steps
proved to be quite a chore

Our campsite, #314

The enormous clubhouse

Outcrops like this everywhere, in practically every site

More or less typical site

Despite some uniformity in out-buildings, there was plenty of
room for expression in the landscaping; here, the gong show

Californiana

Sunset in one of the park areas

Only half the park is developed; the other half has been left
more or less wild, with a mile or so long hiking path; excellent
signage...

Coarsegold (or some other) Creek runs through the property;
you have to ford it to get to the trail

Vicki braving the raging torrent

The Creek

Interesting erosion, creating many pots and tubs

But the main attraction was all the wildflowers and new green
leaves everywhere

We were hoping it might be a California condor, but it was only 
a (very common) turkey vulture; still, the third largest North
American bird, after the condor and the osprey

Parting shot/practical advice department: under the car you'll see
a rope of LED lights, something we've seen in any number of RV
parks recently; evidently, the thinking is, the lights scare off any
rodents that might want to chew on your electrical cables and wires
in the engine compartment (a serious problem); we were all set to
order a 40 foot length, but then we happened on to the Monday
Mousetrap YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=EVN9JXUJXdY&ab_channel=ShawnWoods) and were
disabused, and much amused, by this and similar episodes...truly, 
one of the treasures of the Internet...