Aug 21, 2026 Toulouse city tour

Today we decided to stay in Toulouse and go downtown to see an old monastery and the Capitole part of town where the city government buildings are. But first we took the kids to the playground to pre-wear them out. Lots of other young kids were there so it was a nice family scene. And it is only a 5 minutes walk from their apartment.

After the playground, we took the Metro to the Capitole stop (we bought 10 trip tickets earlier this week). We can see why it is so easy to not own a car here since the transportation is easy and cheap.

We found the monastery which, like everything here, is centuries old. Its low point was the early 1800’s when it was used by the military and suffered a lot of damage, but during the late 1800’s people started to recognize it’s importance and it has been under restoration since then. Tourists make it worthwhile. 

One thing we notice is a lack of foreigners here. Not much English is spoken on the street. We think the French are the ones playing tourists in their own country. Most literature and signs are French first and usually a small description in English and Spanish (Spain is just down the street). And everyone we met spoke some English which we were thankful for when Jake and Nath were not around.

At mid-day we found a small coffee shop and the kids slept while Jake worked. Deb and I walked down to the riverfront park, which was saved in the 70’s from becoming a 4 lane turnpike. Now it’s a sandy beach with boat tours and a big ferris wheel. Deb and I got a couple of drinks and sat in the shade and enjoyed a nice breeze on a not too hot afternoon.

Jake & Nath and the kids took the metro home and we did the same after. It is wonderful to walk through the little streets on a busy Friday afternoon. All the stone buildings and old wooden doors and bikes and scooters and little tiny cars.

We found the subway and went back to our apartment, rested a bit and then walked over to Jake and Nath’s. Nath’s niece Claire was there visiting. We had not seen here since she came to Tijuana after the babies were born so it was nice to catch up.

We said our goodbyes and stopped at the Carre Four grocery store and picked up a couple of things to eat for dinner. Then home to shower and do laundry. Another great day in France.

August 20, 2026 Toulouse, France with a visit to Carcassonne for the day.

We met early at the Jolimont Metro stop behind our hotel. We only go one stop to get to the Toulouse Matabiau - SNCF stop which is where we catch the main train station to get on the TGV (fast train). Nathalie bought our tickets (cause she knows how to do it) and we took the very fast train (first class by the way for 6 euros more) for 45 minutes or so to get to Carcassonne. This is a very old, like before Christ old, walled city. All six of us walked the ramparts all the way around the wall (those kids have strong legs) and then made and bought lunch in the public square just inside the castle. The kids still had more juice so we went into the castle proper and walked its perimeter and inside the castle itself.

The kids' normal cycle is to run around all morning and then around 1-2 pm fall asleep in the stroller for an hour or two. This is when the adults can relax and enjoy a coffee. Pretty good schedule. We had to push the sleeping kids in their stroller down out of the castle and walk all the way through the newer part of town toward the train station and then had our relaxing drinks in the square. 

Then back on the medium speed train when we activated our Eurail passes. We got back to Toulouse and went back to our respective abodes. Deb and I got showers and then walked out to a nearby pizza place (no we did not get French Tacos since they seemed unrecognizable) then back to our place to crash.

August 19, 2026 Toulouse, France

Deb here. Another hot and sunny day, with temps forecast well into the 90’s once again. We enjoyed another hotel breakfast buffet (yogurts, scrambled eggs, mini fresh pastries, meats, cheeses, baguettes, fruit) and then walked over to Jake and Nath’s. Today’s plan was to take the metro downtown, walking through the historic area and ending up at Jardin des Plantes, a large urban park. What a lovely city Toulouse is, with gorgeous brick and stucco buildings with wrought iron balconies. We walked all through the narrow streets and Alex and Jessie are quite the walkers, choosing to walk more than ride in their stoller. We wandered through a cathedral and Place des Carmes, where we stopped to pick up a couple of mini-quiches and salads for lunch. Again, such good food here.

Eventually we made it to the gardens, where we had some lunch, coffees/teas and the kids fell asleep in their stroller. That’s the pattern here, wear them out in the morning through lunch and then they sleep in their stroller for a couple of hours. Not a bad set-up. Jacob manages to carve out some work time during their nap.

In mid-afternoon we walked back to the metro and back home, stopping at the Carre Four for Jake and Nath to shop. Managing the twins in the grocery store was quite the experience, but we made it through and walked back to their apartment. Jacob disappeared for his 4 p.m. meeting and we hung out with the kids and Nath watching The Sound of Music (good prep for our upcoming Salzburg visit). Nath served an early dinner for the kids and us and about 6 we wandered back to our place for the night. Another full day!

August 18, 2026 Toulouse, France

Deb here. We slept pretty well but our 6th floor room was hot. Apparently the limited air conditioning/cooling system isn’t working well, which from what we heard is par for the course in France. Southern France has been heating up every year but the French aren’t equipped with much in the way of cooling, so everywhere’s warm. We enjoyed the great hotel breakfast (15 euros/person but really good) and mainlined coffee and tea before walking to Jake and Nath’s. The plan for the day was a visit to Citi Espace Toulouse, a space center. Nath and the kids had been there but Jacob hadn’t, so we boarded a bus to take us there. The twins are loving public transportation and are pretty familiar with riding the bus, metro and train. Public transportation here is really good.

We toured the space center, first visiting all of the displays on the grounds outside before going into the kids’ area. Toulouse is a hub in France for the space industry, and the Airbus headquarters are here, meaning something on the order of 30,000 jobs locally tied into the space and flight business. Who knew? 

We stopped early on for coffee/tea, then had a great lunch later at one of the cafes on site. Each time we’ve been in Europe I’m struck by the amazing good, local food beautifully prepared. Here we were at a tourist attraction cafe and eating beautiful fresh salads, on real plates and real silverware and people are all enjoying their experience. No pre-made pre-wrapped nuggets and fries here! The American food industry could seriously learn a lot from the French.

The kids fell asleep in their stoller after lunch, so we toured a bit of another building for a while. Jacob’s work schedule allows him to spend mornings/early afternoons with the kids, then work late afternoon and evenings. Not ideal for his sleep, but he’s getting it done. We headed back to their apartment for dinner and then back to our place to crash once again, stopping at the beautiful Carre Four for some groceries along the way. Food prices here are much less than the U.S. and the quality is much better.

August 17, 2026 Toulouse, France

Deb here. Landed in Toulouse by 3:30 p.m., picked up our bags and scheduled an Uber to take us to our lodging for the next 9 days. We’re staying at Toulouse Jolimont Apart/Hotel, only about a half mile from where Jake, Nath and the twins are living for a couple of months. Toulouse has been in the midst of a major heatwave, and wow, was it hot and humid. We checked in, dropped our stuff, contacted Jake and Nath and headed over to their place. They wanted to put the kids to sleep before we showed up or they thought they’d never get them to bed! We had a nice visit with them and stumbled back to our place for a good night’s sleep.

August 16 to August 17, 2026 Bisbee, AZ to Toulouse, France

Deb here. After a long time in the works the day was finally here to begin our multi-part European adventure. Our American Airways flight didn’t leave Tucson until early afternoon, so we had a leisurely start to the day eating breakfast at home and preparing the house for our 5-week absence. By 8:45 a.m. we were ready to go, about half an hour before we needed to, but we made the wise decision to get on on the road. As it turned out this was a brilliant move on our part, since we made it to Benson only to learn the I-10 was closed due to a bad accident. This meant we had to turn around and go all the way through Sonoita, leading to a 45 minute or so detour that was a little nerve wracking. Anyway, made it to the airport an hour and a quarter before the flight so all was good to go.

From there it was a flight to Dallas, long layover in Dallas and dinner at TGI Friday’s (not bad for an airport) and finally the long 9 hour or so flight to London. All went incident free, and although we were in economy I’d managed to score 2 seats by ourselves so not all that bad. Once at Heathrow we had about a 2 hour layover and then boarded our final flight to Toulouse on British Airways. Another 2 hours and voila, we were in Toulouse! All flights on time, even a bit early and our luggage made it. No complaints!

June 27, 2026 Long Point FS Campground CA to Chico CA

This campground is a keeper. View through the trees of the lake, good privacy, only 38 sites, nice host and only $18 (with my senior pass). We used up all the firewood last night with a sunset fire (but the clouds disappointed us) and had popcorn (with our handy dandy microwave).

This morning we had cold cereal and decided to head toward Chico, CA for one last hotel room.

We drove the 5 extra miles to the other two campgrounds way up here and we picked the right one since the other one was big and crowded and the sites were on top of each other. We did not bother with the other big campground since it was not on the lake and our host said it was another big one.

We made it 16 miles (plus 5) off the mountain and headed to Portola, CA where the Western Pacific Railroad Museum is located. This railroad ran from the early 1900’s until it was absorbed by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1982. It is run by volunteers and they give train rides on the weekend. The guide on the train ride said they have way too many engines and cars and cabooses and people keep trying to give them more. About 5 of the engines operate and they must have another dozen sitting in the yard. It looks like they also inherited the old Western Pacific maintenance facilities so they have all the resources except money. But all the volunteers seem pretty excited about trains so it’s a very pleasant museum.

Next stop was The Polka Dot in Quincy, which is an old fashioned burger-fry-shake place for lunch. The real deal. Very friendly folks, not to be missed.

The rest of the afternoon was spent blissfully driving Rt 70, also known as the Feather River Canyon Scenic Byway, which we had no idea was a really twisty road down a canyon through the mountains. The river was a big kayaker's paradise so we saw a lot of them. Small hydro dams all the way down the canyon created reservoir after reservoir.

At the end of the afternoon Rt 70 climbed out of the canyon and dumped us on the high hilly dry country. This ends our survey of the beautiful north and northeast parts of California. Tomorrow we drive to Sacramento to spend the week with the grandkids. Tonight it’s hot showers and pizza out somewhere.

June 26, 2026 KOA Journey Campground, Klamath Falls, OR to Long Point USFS Campground, Milford, CA

Deb here again. It rained a bit overnight but it was clear in the morning. We left the campground by 8, having filled up our water and used the dump station, and stopped at Casey’s Diner in Klamath Falls for breakfast. Great local place with attitude (it said so on their signs), serving up all the breakfast classics and hot coffee. From there it was on to gas and a Safeway for a few groceries. 

We decided to head east on Rt 140 out of Klamath Falls, planning to catch Rt 395 right near the California border in Lakeview. As John always teases me, I have a state road map obsession. The atlas and Google Maps are great, but I can always find more detail via a state map and today I proved my point. I don’t always pay attention to red squares on maps, but I saw two places on 140 that needed investigating. Both turned out to be “who knew?” moments that were pretty interesting. First was passing near Mitchell Recreation Area, where we learned that the only casualties from a bombing in the US during WWII took place there. Apparently in 1945 a local minister, his pregnant wife and 5 kids from Sunday school were on a picnic outing and one of the kids found a Japanese balloon bomb. The woman and kids all went to investigate and the bomb exploded, a really sad event killing most of the group. There’s a lot of info about the event online, including details on how many balloon bombs were dropped on the US and that the Japanese scientist who developed the ordinances visited the spot years later, laid a wreath on the spot and apologized to the families.

Onward we drove, eventually arriving at the second red square on the map for the day. This one was listed as Geyser, not far out of Lakeview. There’s a geyser that’s been named “Old Perpetual” that erupts 60 feet into the air every 90 seconds. Lots of geothermal activity in the area and apparently Old Perpetual was faithful until 2009 when it stopped erupting until 2015. The info on this one said that in 2009 the local correctional facility started tapping into the geothermal for their hot water and that’s when the geyser stopped erupting. You can’t get close to it since it’s part of a hot springs “resort” that’s currently closed down, but we saw it from a distance.

On we went, back into California on 395. Lots of agriculture and big valleys with mountains in the distance. I found a USFS campsite for the night that looked good outside of Janesville so that was our goal.

We stopped in Susanville for a break (and a McDonalds coffee) and then back in the van for the final drive. It was quite a drive up here, all on a paved and twisty road. I think we went about 20 miles to reach Antelope Lake and our campground, climbing through lots of forest, rocks and a burned area. This campsite is another Forest Service gem, sitting on Antelope Lake and perfect for water activities. I talked with the camp host who pointed me to a great site, #22, that’s at the far end of the 38 campsite loop and looks through the trees to the water. The water was really warm, but a very cool wind was blowing so I wimped out on a swim. Walking, reading, dinner, campfire and no internet. A perfect end to the day!

June 25, 2026 Cooper Gulch USFS Campground, CA to KOA Journey Campground, Klamath Falls, OR

Deb here. I woke up at 6 and headed outside with my cup of tea to enjoy the sunshine and solidtude of the lake. So beautiful and peaceful, with lots of birdsong and a few fish jumping. Perfect.

We made breakfast sandwiches in the van and packed up and were on the road by 8:30 a.m. or so. The plan today was to see some more of northern California, so we decided to continue on Rt 299, which travels northeast. Not long into our drive we came to lots of brown National Park Service signs about entering Whiskeytown, complete with direction signs to camping, hikes, historic sites, etc. and we eventually found a visitor center. Who knew that Whiskeytown Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area exists and that it’s protected through the park service? Apparently John F. Kennedy was instrumental in turning the area into a recreational area after the big dam was built. It encompasses a huge area and is a primo spot for boaters and fishermen. 

On through Redding, with stops for McDonalds, gas, Starbucks and Subway (for a sandwich on the road),  then northeast to Burney and beyond. There was a major delay due to roadwork twice today, with one of the holdups being over 30 minutes long. These east/west roads all seem to be twisty and filled with passes, so the roadwork needed to maintain them is extensive. 

In Canby we made the decision to turn off of Rt 299 onto Rt 139, heading across the border into Oregon. We’d hoped to make a visit to Tulelake National Monumentt, which we learned was a Japanese Deportation Center during WWII, but unfortunately it’s only open Friday-Monday and today was Thursday.

By this time I was antsy to be done for the day. After last night’s amazing USFS campsite I’d hoped to find another similar site tonight. Unfortunately, between almost non-existent cell service and a lack of public lands up this way, no such luck. We ended up booking a site at KOA Journey in Klamath Falls, which turned out to be a perfect move. We arrived at 3:30, took showers, did our bags of laundry and talked with both Hannah and Jake (and the gang). Later we went out to dinner at Common Block Brewing Co. for a great shared dnner of burger and Cobb salad, along with a local cider and local beer. 

Back to the KOA for reading and sleep. 

June 24, 2026 Big Lagoon County Park CA to Cooper Gulch FS Campground CA

Big Lagoon was not so great but functional. We first made a swing through Trinidad, which was a sweet coastal town with great views of the harbor and ocean. We then had breakfast nearby at Joe’s Green Barn in McKinleyville. Classic place with the old guys sitting in the corner solving the town problems, friendly waitresses, nice big booths.

Next stop was a little town called Ferndale which was established in the late 1800’s as a prosperous dairy community. Still milking cows but the town itself had those classic Victorian houses nicely painted. Hard to pin down the demographic here.

We stopped in Eureka to get some groceries at a Walmart (kind of crappy old one with no fresh vegetables) so we found a nearby Safeway.

Next was the rollercoaster Rt 36 to another Rt 3 rollercoaster (turn turn turn) and then to Rt 299. These roads go kind of west to east so they have to wiggle through the mountains hence the twisties.

At the junction of Rt 3 and Rt 299 we headed to Lewiston, and found Cooper Gulch Forest Service Campground with 5 sites total, and one not reserved. Actually the one next to us had a reserved tag but nobody ever showed up. This is a beautiful campground with sites right on Lewiston Lake. We took a quick swim in the brisk lake. Deb found a little trail and did a short hike along the lake and I read and worked on the noisy brakes. We drove a section of road today that was oil and stone and one of those little stones got between the disc and tin shield so we sounded like a grade school teacher dragging her fingernails across a blackboard coming into the campground.

Dinner in the van and off to bed with the MaxAir fans running on low because of the slightly high temps.

June 23, 2026 Americoast Inn, Brookings OR to Big Lagoon County Park, CA (north of Trinidad)

Deb here. We checked out of the motel by 8 or so and had breakfast and coffee at McDonald’s. We drove south on Rt. 101, stopping at the Redwood National and State Parks Visitor Information Center. The volunteer kindly gave us a newspaper with all the info about the 4 different state and national parks and her recommendations about hikes and drives.

We struck out for the Howland Road Loop and it turned out to be a spectacular drive. The road is dirt for quite a while and narrow, passing right between the huge redwoods. At the Mill Creek trailhead we parked and hiked along Mill Creek, eventually coming to the Grove of Titans. Wow, what a trail! We were up close and personal with the big guys and all the ferns and green understory. What a treat.

From there we traveled back on Howland Rd to Rt 199 and stopped at the Hiouchi Visitor Center for more information. The interpretive panels outside really helped us sort out the differences between coastal redwoods and sequoias, which we learned are found at higher elevations in the eastern Sierras. While there I asked the ranger about a chance of campground availability at Jedediah Smith NP Campground and he suggested we drive there and ask the ranger, so that’s what we did. She told us we could come back at 2 to see if anything opened up (it was 12:45 by this time), so we went back across the road to the visitor center and made lunch, read and napped for an hour.

I was there right at 2 but unfortunately nothing opened up so we decided to head south on 101 and see what popped up as an alternative. The drive was gorgeous, and we took the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, a 10 mile side road that paralleled 101. Once again we were driving through the big guys and it was beautiful.

Cell service was super spotty to non-existent, but I managed to find a private campground near Trinidad that looked great and I called the park. They had room for us, but in the meantime we saw Big Lagoon County Park and thought we’d give it a go. We pulled in and found a few sites available for $27/night. Not bad for this area. We took a walk down to the beach, read, made dinner and called it a night.  

June 22, 2026 Sunset Bay Campground to Brookings OR

Another day on the Oregon coast..

This morning, probably like most mornings on the coast, it was fogged in. It seems that up until noon it is foggy near the water. Cool air, saturated air from the ocean, etc. I assume.

The campground was quiet this morning. Since the bathroom was “hideous”, according to the park ranger, we decided to skip the free shower to avoid any creepy crawly things (just kidding, it wasn’t that bad). We made coffee and tea and egg sandwiches in the van then drove the rest of the way down the park road to visit the Shore Acres State Park. A rich guy named Louis Simpson, a lumber baron, built his oceanfront mansion in 1908 and it burned down in the early 1920’s. He then built another bigger mansion that fell into disrepair. Then he lost his shirt in the stock market and his wife died. So he sold the property  and the charred remains to the state in the 1940’s and the state ended up razing the mansion in the 1950’s. Bad luck always follows rich people it seems.

The park service has turned the grounds into amazing gardens, similar to the English style gardens that would have been in place during Simpson’s time. It takes 5 park people to maintain it and they rent it out for weddings and other events but let the public in to look around. Beautiful place.

We then stopped at the Simpson Wildlife Reserve, where we heard lots of seals barking through the fog. We spotted two huge elephant seals down below on the rocks.

Last stop was Cape Argo which is a beautiful overlook out to the ocean. Just when we think we have the most amazing picture, another even better picture comes along.

Then it was south on Rt 101 with multiple stops to get the next most beautiful picture. We stopped for lunch at Cafe 2.0 in Port Orford. Then south on 101 again to try our luck at a campsite at Harris Beach State Park near Brookings. We stopped at one but they were full and they said the others in the area were full as well. It’s been a while since we got a hotel so Deb snagged a pretty nice hotel in Brookings. We went into town to the Fat Irish Kitchen and Pub and had pints of beer/cider. Then down to the town park nearby. We found the memorial to the Japanese submarine that anchored off shore, assembled a small airplane, and dropped a couple of bombs on Oregon.They flew the pontoon plane back to the sub and disassembled it and disappeared. The only time the US has been bombed by a foreign country, other than the drunk pilot who mistakenly dropped a suitcase bomb on Naco, Arizona during the Mexican Revolution.

We found a nice city trail that took us way out on the rocks on the shore and another trail that took us down to the beach. After that we went back to the Pub and had dinner. Hot showers and bed. No idea where we are going tomorrow..

June 21, 2026 Beverly Beach Campground, OR to Sunset Bay Campground near Coos Bay, OR

Deb here again. Woke up to sunny skies that quickly clouded over. I’m learning that the weather on the coast is really variable, although the temperature has been consistently in the 50’s/60’s. John slept in for Father’s Day and we had a leisurely start to the morning, leaving the campground at 9:30 or so.

We drove south, the weather cleared and we had a spectacular drive. The road twisted and turned up above Cape Perpetua and we found lots of places to stop and admire the views. We stopped at the USFS Visitor Center and had a long talk with the interpretive volunteer, who happens to volunteer with her spouse at Kartchner Caverns in the winter. She knew Bisbee well and we exchanged contact info for when they’re in the area.

As we drove south we started seeing lots of sand dunes and off road vehicles. In Winchester Bay we went into the harbor area and saw so many huge RV’s with trailers behind for their off road toys. We found a loop that took us to Umqua Lighthouse (beautiful spot) and then down into Winchester Bay and the large RV parks (state owned) designed for big rigs and their off road vehicles. Later on we learned that Oregon Dunes is one large playground for people on their four wheelers and a big money maker for the state. Interesting.

I’d contacted my fellow Bisbee Ukelady, Laura Smith, since she and her husband Mike have a second home in this neck of the woods. They were home today, so we stopped in to visit with them at their lovely home between Lakeside and North Bend. They’ve lived May-October in this part of Oregon for several years and they really enjoy the change between Oregon and Bisbee. We had a great visit on their deck in the sunshine, complete with some delicious rhubarb crisp.

By the time we left Laura and Mike’s it was late afternoon and we hadn’t eaten any lunch (other than rhubarb crisp) so it was time for an early dinner before we checked into our campground. Laura and Mike suggested stopping at Seven Devils Brewery in Coos Bay, so that’s where we went. Seven Devils had tasty fish tacos and beer/cider and we ate outside and chatted with Jake and Nath and the twins.

On to the campground to check in. Sunset Bay is on Cape Arago, which offers a few day use state park areas. This campground is okay, but feels a bit worn and tired, not as well put together as Beverly Beach. We took a walk to the bay and then followed a trail that led us up above the bay and more coastline to a point and lookout. It was sunny and the light was perfect for some gorgeous vistas.

No cell service here so it was a great night for reading. We walked back over to the bay in hopes of a sunset, but the skies had clouded over once again so no luck. 

June 20, 2026 Beverly Beach Campground, OR

Deb here. It was great to wake up this morning and know we were planning to stay in one place for the day. John made eggs and toast and we enjoyed hanging out in the van. I’d learned that low tide today was scheduled for 10:45 a.m. and I love tidepools, so I looked forward to walking the beach to the Devil’s Punchbowl, where we’d been told there’d be tidepools.

I set out about 9:30 (John opted to have a reading morning) and walked the 1.5 miles up the beach to the spot. It was foggy this morning and I didn’t encounter anyone for most of my walk, but as I neared the end of the beach I heard a loudspeaker and someone announcing something or other. Turns out there was a youth surfing competition at Otter Rocks (near Devil’s Punchbowl) which meant lots of kids, families, wetsuits and surfboards. Fun to see so many young surfers out on this cool and foggy morning.

I climbed off the beach by the long set of stairs up to the road, and then made my way to where the tidepools were supposed to be happening. I arrived close to the low tide time which turned out to be perfect. There were several Friends of the Otter Rocks interns (I think high school students) on the beach telling us all what to look for. I first went south into the Devil’s Punchbowl to see sea stars and sea anenomes, then down the beach to the north to see a couple of sea lions and more anenomes. Very slippery terrain but so fun!

Back to the van by noon and we had to vacate our campsite in F loop for one in A loop by 1 p.m. We moved our van to the new campsite and decided to go for lunner (or linner?) about 1:30 in Newport. One of the park rangers had recommended a couple of places to eat there, and after first striking out at South Beach Fish Market (long line and no parking) we ate at The Chowder Bowl on Nye Beach. This ended up being a great choice, with fish and chips for me and a chowder bread bowl for John. After our late lunch/early dinner we walked around and found the Sylvia Hotel, where I’d stayed with my aunt Ginny in 2012. By this time the weather had turned cool but sunny, so a pleasant afternoon.

Back to the campground for reading, napping and walking on the beach. All in all a lovely day on the Oregon Coast.

June 19, 2026 West Linn OR to Beverly Beach Campground, OR

Thanks to Beverly and Brett for the soft bed and hot shower and the good catch up yesterday. We have not seen them for a decade or more. Beverly was already gone to work this morning so we said our goodbyes to Brett and did our morning search for a good diner. It was a nearby Biscuits Cafe for the win and the food was good.

Deb snagged the last campsite at Beverly Beach so we were good to go on where we are staying tonight, something we usually do the same day. but since it’s Friday and Father’s Day and school is out and everybody is camping, the campsite supply is slim. The main goal today was to go to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum where the Spruce Goose ended up. My brother told me about it and I’m a retired nerd so it turned out to be a perfect stop.

The Spruce Goose was a huge airplane which Howard Hughes developed during World War 2. It is ginormous. The idea was to transport military supplies across the ocean for the war since ships took so long. There was a catch. It could not be made out of aluminum so Hughes decided to make it out of laminated birch wood. Some called it the Birch Bird but the newspapers started calling it the Spruce Goose to make fun of it and the name stuck. The war ended before it was finished but Hughes insisted he was allowed to finish it. They put it on the water to do a simple taxiing maneuver but Hughes decide to “take it up”, rules be damned. He took it airborne for less than a minute to prove that it would fly and it never flew again.

The Goose is the biggest thing in the museum but they have a wonderful historical collection spanning the Wright Brothers to space travel with bi-planes, WW2 planes, Vietnam era planes, DC-3’s, Boeing Jets, helicopters, rockets, lunar lander, SR71 spy planes, etc. We were there from 10 am until mid -afternoon so it ate up most of the day.

The tour guides were for the most part retired pilots who really knew their stuff. The museum is in two giant buildings with lots of large aircraft scattered around the front and back yard. Very impressive.

Next we drove to the coast and took Rt 101 south through several or so coastal towns until we found Beverly Beach and checked in. Deb asked about a second night and they had one site available so we booked two nights here, tonight and tomorrow. We want to be in Sacremento next weekend so we want to spend more time on the ocean this next week.

We did a quick walk around the huge state park and down to the beach. Dinner in the van, reading (a little) and sleep.

June 18, 2026 White Salmon WA to West Linn OR

Helga made us waffles and coffee and tea and we said our goodbyes and headed off the hill to the Columbia river. We crossed the $3.50 bridge (they read our plate and will somehow send us a bill) and we caught Historic Rt 30 which runs on the south side of the river. It is shared off and on with the interstate. Brady told us last night about the waterfalls on Rt 30 which we found. This road was built in 1922 and it is in good shape but very narrow.

Google Maps took us straight to Beverly and Brett’s house in West Linn. Brett works remotely so he was busy all morning but Beverly had the day off so we had a long catch up. It’s been 12 years since we have seen these guys so we had a lot of catching up to do.

Beverly gave us a tour of her various Maker Space project spaces with 3D printers and laser machines and the various clothing projects and tons of other projects for the cosplay stuff she does. This is in her spare time after her full time hospital job.

Their son Zack came over and we all went to lunch and for a nice walk along Lake Oswego. Ice cream and then back to West Linn. Brett was done with work by this time so we got caught up with him and then went out to dinner at Salvador Molly’s, a favorite  restaurant of theirs with delicious food and good beer.

Back to the house and then everyone off to bed. Brett and Beverly work in the morning so we said our goodbyes.

June 17,2026 Yakima Sportsman State Park, Yakima, WA To White Salmon WA

This park was ok but not stellar. The showers were hot enough but not that clean, and only about a quarter of the sites were full. We were close to downtown Yakima so we looked up a well rated coffee shop (Aventura) which turned out to be not that great. So all in all an okay stay here in Yakima,

Today we will visit an old friend Helga Burkhardt who Deb first met when she was 6 years old and living in Germany. She and her husband Klaus later moved to Oswego and were friends with Deb’s parents. We have not seen Helga for 30 plus years.

Rt 97 took us almost all the way to the Columbia River and crossed an Indian reservation. We stopped for gas in Toppenish and Deb asked about the fire we had been warned about by Google Maps. The fire was the day before and we did see burned grassland as we crossed the reservation today. A few fire folks were keeping an eye on it but there was no smoke or fire to be seen.

Once we hit the huge Columbia River we took Rt 14 on the north side of the river which took us right to White Salmon. Helga lived high above the river in a lovely neighborhood. Helga’s 87 and has been here about 20 years and her son and daughter live nearby so she has a nice setup. We sat on her back deck and caught up. She then took us for lunch at a delicious local bakery, a hike overlooking the river and then back to her house. Her son and daughter (Walter and Jeanette) and their partners all came over and we had a  nice dinner on the back deck. We all got to know each other until late and after a nice evening everyone went home and we fell asleep in the van in the driveway. Thanks Helga for a wonderful day. 

June 16, 2026 Deception Pass State Park, WA to Yakima Sportsman State Park, Yakima, WA

Deb here. Well, today was a whole lesson in flexibility! Last night I’d decided to just relax and not worry about a ferry reservation between Coupeville on Whidbey Island to Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula. The ferry was all part of our new plan to head south through Washington a different way than we’d intended.

We had coffe and tea at the campground and then decided to head out. We stopped to walk over the Deception Pass Bridge (very scary) and then stopped for breakfast at the Island Cafe in Oak Harbor and I pulled up the ferry schedules. It turns out that the 3 morning ferries scheduled were canceled due to excessive tidal action (or something like that), and the remaining ferries were all full with standby only. We talked it over and decided it wasn’t worth gambling on standby status, so concocted a whole other plan to head back to the mainland and travel on Rt 2, up over Stevens Pass and through Leavenworth.

John here for the rest. We got gas at Costco ($4.84). So gas prices are screwy out here. Some stations sell it for $5.99 and the next station is $4.99, then $5.69, etc. Costco was the best price and right on the new route and not busy at all around 10 am.

We backtracked on Rt20 and then went south on I-5 for not too long before we turned onto Rt 2 East which we would spend most of the day on. It is a beautiful road and mostly 2 lane with a couple of passes (4-5K ft) and a few ice covered ragged mountains, and as the afternoon wore on we started to see things dry out. As we drove through Skykomish we stopped at LouSkis Deli and split one of their famous Rainy Day Reuben sandwiches. A great setting with picnic tables outside on the river.

Then, after we climbed up and over Stevens Pass we eventually arrived in Leavenworth, a Bavarian themed village. Everything has the Bavarian thing going on and we stopped and walked around the village, splitting a frosted gingerbread cookie.. 

After leaving Rt 2 we followed Rt 97, finally turning on to super twisty Rt 821.We found a half dozen campgrounds between Rt 97 and Rt 821 that were either forest service or BLM. We skipped the forest service ones so we could get some more miles in and decided to stay at one of the BLM ones on Rt 821. Lo and behold, they were mostly all closed since they were renovating them. We then found a State Park in Yakima, Yakima Sportsman State Park, which was pretty empty with nobody to take our money so we had to call the nice State Park lady who told us to drive around, find a site and call her back. We called back and got another State Park lady who took all our information and credit card and told us to fill out a white form and put it on the dash. The white forms were back at the unattended park ranger shack so we got a little end of day walk in.

We reconned the bathrooms (B+) and sat in the breezy afternoon with a couple of beverages. Then cooked dinner, did dishes and hit the books then sleep.

Tomorrow we visit Deb’s old friend Helga and then on to the Portland area to visit with Beverly and Brett.

Another nice weather day just figuring it out…