Anacortes - Gateway to the San Juans

Anacortes is known locally as the Gateway to the San Juans because it's a hopping off point for ferry traffic and pleasure boats going to the islands and Canada.  For us, Anacortes is a destination in and off itself.  It is one of those places, like Port Townsend, that we visit at least once a year.

We stay at the Cap Sante Marina which also provides dry camping for RVs and great views of the marina and boat traffic.  The marina location is centrally located providing an easy walk into the historic downtown, and access to miles of trails for walking and biking.  Shopping and restaurants are all easily accessible.  We arrived just in time for the annual Art Festival which is a huge event bringing folks from far and wide.  Plus there are weekly Farmers Markets providing entertainment and a great selection of sustainable produce.  In other words, there seems to be a constant flow of activity in this vibrant seaside community.

Just hanging out with the girls!

Howdy

Murals on downtown buildings

At Cap Sante marina overlook...

Mount Baker rising out of the fog...

At the Saturday Farmers Market

We'll be leaving here by ferry returning to Port Townsend for our annual 2 week stay at our waterfront site at Point Hudson Marina. 

A quick trip to the Joseph, OR area~~

Our very first stop in Eastern Oregon was at Pendleton, not on the itinerary and completely unscheduled. We had noticed our voltage gauge fluctuating while driving; sometimes down to almost zero, then back to the normal 13 volt range.  We looked up and found Cummins Northwest and they were able to get us in Monday morning, the day we had planned to leave Charbonneau.  Howard figured the voltage regulator or alternator may be failing, considering our MH is 14 years old with 157,000 miles.  When hooked up to the computer voltage was steady, no fluctuation even with a load.  All the wiring checked out so the only thing they could think of was that our gauge is faulty.  So we were sent on our way...

Lake Wallowa:

Bloggers are the best and we are continually learning and adding places to our "to go" list. We really focused on the Joseph area after reading Roads Less Traveled great write-up with their always beautiful photography.  We were a little skeptical when we got to La Grande on I-84. There was a lot of smoke and the air quality was poor, but we were too close to pass it by. 

Wallowa Lake State Park seemed to be our best choice as a base camp, located just 6 miles out of Joseph, and framed by jagged 9000 ft. peaks and a clear glacial lake.  The park was quite full but we were able to get 2 nights.  Smoke filled the air and the ranger mentioned a wildfire was close by.  Helicopters were flying back and forth to retrieve buckets of water from the lake.  Our photos are hazy at best.

Fire on the ridge line

Lake Wallowa geology

From the other side of the lake

Trail from our site to the lake

Imnaha:

We had one full day to see as much as possible, only covering a very small portion of all the many suggestions we received and places we had read about.  The decision was made to drive out to Imnaha, 30 miles east of Joseph, then decide if we had time to drive the 24 miles south to the Hat Point Lookout or the rough 27 miles north to Dug Bar, for the views into Hell's Canyon on the Snake River.

By the time we got to Imnaha it was close to noon. After a visit to the country store for a drink and some info we decided against driving out to the overlook.  We have driven to Heaven's Gate out of Riggins, ID, taken a wild jet boat trip into Hell's Canyon from the north end at Clarkston, WA, and lastly driven into the canyon from the south end on Highway 71 out of Cambridge, ID a couple of years ago when we visited friends in Caldwell.

Joseph:

So we headed back to spend the rest of our afternoon exploring the lovely town of Joseph. The smoke had receded leaving puffy clouds against a clear blue sky and we had a great walk-about, followed by a super good dinner at the Outlaw Restaurant:

On almost every street corner sits one of the famous bronze statues created at Valley Bronze at its foundry in Joseph; each paying tribute to a segment of the town's history.  Chief Joseph, the town's namesake, proudly overlooks all!

Please take the time to click on the various web links highlighted for more information on this area, one we plan to get back to for a longer stay.  But now, we have to move on.....

Coasting for a change....

A change of course is not a problem!  It's just too hot along I-5, so we decide to detour over to the beautiful Oregon coast.  We have a week (from last Monday) to get to Port Townsend; plenty of time and much more scenic.  From Medford our route of choice is Highway 138 to 38, along the Umpqua River, into Reedsport.  Don't miss the wildlife viewing area where the elk are en masse; just not in any photos!  The Oregon Dunes are a unique area of windswept sand, stretching from the Coos River to the Suislaw River in Florence, approximately 40 miles; the largest expanse of coastal dunes in North America, some towering almost 500 ft. above sea level, providing lots of recreational opportunities for off-roading, hiking, and photography.

Reedsport, OR dunes

We overnight in Florence at the Port of Suislaw Marina & RV Park, right at the docks and downtown.  We are so craving fresh fish and walk a few steps to find just caught tuna fillets which are soon seared to medium rare on the barbie with Howard's tartar sauce on the side.  An hour's walk in the morning with camera in tow gives a pretty fair impression of our surroundings! 

At the docks in Florence

Tuna on the barbie

Signs of Florence

Bridge over Suislaw River

Colorful whirly things

Then to Lincoln City to meet up with friends at the Devil's Lake RV Park, a high end park (for us) but fun for a couple of nights.  (We're boondockers ya' know!)  Don and Joan are beachcombers and agate collectors.  We had a great lunch at Mo's Seafood Restaurant in Lincoln City....

I want some Mo!

Showing off her agates!

.....followed by a walk along the beach covered in driftwood and Harbor seals!

Huge tree washed ashore

Harbor seals...really they are!

Walking through town we happened upon a glass blowing shop with a demonstration in progress.  What an impressive and beautiful art form this is.  Maybe I could rig up a mobile unit to take on the road.  My gourd carving buddies would be envious!

This will be a beautiful bowl with scalloped edges

Finished products

See ya' up the road in the Great State of Washington!

Yours truly!