Lincoln Rock State Park, Washington

The next morning it was 32 degrees.  We said goodbye to Randy and Romana and headed for the border.  They were also going to Washington, but they took the route we came in on.  We opted for a different route.  When we crossed the border the ag people were inspecting all RVs.  We had a short delay, but nothing serious.

A short distance into Washington we stopped at a roadside picnic table for lunch.  It was an odd spot, right next to a cemetery.  But it worked.  Soon after, we saw Randy and Romana coming down the road.  They stopped briefly.  It seems they had changed their minds and ended up taking the same road we did.  They also were searched at the border, and lost all their produce.

In Omak, we passed the fairgrounds, where the firefighters' camp was set up.  

 All along the road we saw signs of the apple harvest.  The smell of apples filled the air.

We arrived at Lincoln Rock State Park in the afternoon.  The place was practically deserted.

We stayed there two nights.  On the second day we decided to try the new bike trail.  It was under construction the last time we were here, but this time it was open.  It was a nice trail, going through the orchards and then along the river into Wenatchee.  However, it proved to be more difficult than we expected, so we only went a couple of miles.  But it was still nice.

The next morning we had planned to go to an RV park in Umatilla, but since it would have put us in the middle of the Friday evening commute in Portland, we just headed home.

On the way up we had seen the St. John's Monastery Bakery near Goldendale.  So this time we stopped.  We got a pastry for tea and a loaf of a sweet bread.

We still encountered a lot of traffic, but it was less than it would have been.

Twin Lakes Golf Resort, Kaleden, BC

From Lake Chelan State Park we drove north toward Canada.  We finally found evidence of the wildfires.  The hills around the city of Chelan were all black.

We got our last US gas just before the border, in Oroville, Washington.

Just before we crossed the border, I texted Randy to let him know we'd be at Twin Lakes around 2:00.  He said they had run into some stormy weather and wouldn't be there until about 4:00.

As we drove northwest on Highway 3, we started to see some threatening-looking clouds.

Fortunately, the storm never reached us.


When we arrived at Twin Lakes we went into the pro shop, where we had been instructed to check in.  As it turned out, we didn't need to stop there.  And we wish we hadn't.  Because when we came back out to the parking lot we discovered that someone had hit the side of our truck and then left the scene.

The RV park was very nice.  There were no fancy amenities, but the setting, right next to the golf course, was really pretty.

We set up our RV but it was still early in the afternoon, so we drove to check out Penticton.  We also looked for the RCMP station.  We found it, but it was closed on Sunday.

Randy and Romana arrived a little after 4:00.  They were in the space right next to us. 

We had dinner together that evening in our trailer.  While we were eating, a wind storm came up.  The winds were amazingly strong, causing the trailer to rock.  By bed time the wind had died down, and the park was very quiet.

The next morning it was 42 degrees.  After a poo walk with Taffy, their dog, Romana went in their truck to visit her parents in Penticton.  We also went into Penticton to report the accident.  We then got sandwiches at the Safeway and found a park to have lunch.  The weather was beautiful and sunny.

We then drove along Okanagan Lake to Naramata, the end of the road.  All along the edge of the lake there were wineries.

We then drove to Okanagan Falls

 and then had ice cream at Tickleberry's

From there we drove to Vaseux Lake, a wildlife refuge.  There weren't many waterfowl, but it was a pretty lake.

Hoping to see some bighorn sheep, we took the back road along the east side of Skaha Lake.  No luck finding any sheep.  But it was a pretty drive.

Romana was having dinner with her parents, so Randy joined us.  That evening we saw lots of quail in the park. 

Yakima to Lake Chelan

Saturday, September 19, 2015

The trip to Lake Chelan was another lovely drive on a beautiful day.  We had expected to see evidence of the wildfires, but we saw very little. 

We spent the night at Lake Chelan State Park, another wonderful Washington park.  We were supposed to be in Space No. 8, but when we got there we saw only one space open and assumed it was ours.  It turned out to be No. 9, and the guy in No. 7 had parked his boat in our spot.  After telling our story to the ranger, he said to stay where we were and he'd deal with it.  The people who had reserved No. 9 never showed up, so we were fine. 

Our spot was at the edge of a large lawn.  Late in the afternoon several deer came through, totally ignoring all the people.  They were amazingly tame.

The park has a really nice tent camping area right along the lake.  Cars park on the road above and walk down to the sites. A nice walking path skirted the lake.

Trip to BC

Friday, September 18, 2015

We left home at 11:00.  After a quick stop at Roth's to get a takeout lunch, we headed north.  We stopped at the rest area near Wilsonville for lunch.  We continued on I-5 through Portland.  Our ETA in Yakima was 3:45. Our GPS suggested we cross into Washington and take Highway 14 east through the Columbia Gorge, but we didn't notice it in time, so we went 84.  Big mistake.  We soon saw a sign that said 'wreck ahead.'  At this point the GPS suggested we exit 84 and take the old scenic highway.  We decided to try it, figuring we could get around the wreck.

But after traveling for about 15 minutes we found ourselves at Vista House, after which the road was closed.




















So back we went to rejoin the traffic jam.  Eventually we passed the wreck, a big rig that had gone off the road.  After that, the road was fine, but we had lost a lot of time.

The road through Goldendale, Washington, is very pretty.  The town is named for the wheat fields, and they were indeed golden.

One of the highlights of this leg was seeing a small herd of bighorn sheep right next to the road.  Alas, I wasn't able to get a photo.

We arrived in Yakima at 7:00. We stayed at Sportsmens State Park, just at the edge of Yakima.  It was a lovely park but full to capacity.