Today we kept it close to our temporary home. It was a beautiful day and we just couldn’t seem to get away from laying about in the sun, listening to the wind gently stirring the massive firs and cedars. It makes a mesmerizing sound.

We did slip away long enough to go a few miles up the road to Annie’s, a superb pizza joint and meeting area for locals. Tip for travelers: Annie’s makes a cordon bleu pizza that is to die for.

On the way home, we stopped at a wayside owned by the Skagit Trust, a group that buys and holds scenic properties in trust for the public. We saw some elk lurking way far off and we spotted a pair of bald eagles nesting in an alder tree. They are magnificent critters.

Elk can be spotted in today’s picture. Click the link.https://photos.app.goo.gl/584NJnmv1Dx19Caq7

Today the weather was still kinda shitty so we decided to do some shopping. My elbow is still giving me some trouble so driving and shopping are about the the only things I can do.

We drove down the Skagit River to Burlinton which, along with Sedro Woolley and Mount Vernon, make up the three cities at the intersection of WA-20 and I-5. Once there, we pulled into a Camping World store to get some replacement stuff for our RV. We picked up some storage compartment door catches, four packages of deodorizer/turd dissolver and a brand-new sewer hose which I’m sure will give me hours of entertainment while dumping the waste tanks in the future.

On the way back we stopped at Skagit Valley Burgers, a tiny joint built inside a caboose where they make what we consider to be the finest burgers anywhere. We were not disappointed today; my western burger and Peggy’s blue cheese burger were both great. My gimpy elbow had me attempting to eat the monstrous, slippery delight with my left, untalented hand and without napkins my shirt surely would have been ruined. We also picked up some of their garlic french fries which are superb even though we both stank of garlic for hours afterwards.

It is difficult to avoid wandering about in the truck here. Everywhere we go, we find delightful scenery. Both the south and north sides of the river have uncrowded roads along the shoreline and we thoroughly enjoy merely cruising up- or downstream. We took the Lyman-Hamilton Highway (a siding next to WA-20) on the way back home visiting both towns notorious for flooding before upstream dams made inundation rarer. There are many houses along this route built over garages which have nothing but columns in them. Anything else stored therein is subject to water damage.

Two pix. Click the link. https://photos.app.goo.gl/RvbD4XSzhN8YqFUS9

We woke up this morning to another bright blue day. We had breakfast, showers, dumped the waste tanks and set our folding chairs in the sunshine when, quite suddenly, the skies started to look a bit angry. Within about 15 minutes we felt the first raindrops and retreated into our cozy trailer. Right after getting inside, a stunning demonstration of lightning, thunder and downpours occurred, one of the bolts striking something just beyond our park’s trees and taking out the area’s internet WiFi in addition to killing the power for a minute.

The power was quickly restored but WiFi looks like it will be NFG until tomorrow. We were able to keep ourselves happy with DVDs, thumb drive movies and Kindles for the rest of the day. Since my arm is still gimpy, that worked out okay.

The skies were brilliant blue this morning and temperatures quickly rose after dawn from about the mid-40s to the high-60s. We were a bit slow getting out the door but soon we were on our way on an explore. The truck needed fuel so we started the day by driving west on Highway 20 into the town of Lyman and filling the tank. After that, we headed back east along the north bank gorgeous Skagit River.

Not five miles from the gas station, we came across a herd of bison, happily grazing in some rancher’s pasture. We continued past Birdsview, where there is a micro-brewery and tavern, and continued upstream through the towns of Concrete, Rockport and Marblemount. These are tiny towns – there really isn’t much of a main street, other than Highway 20, and few stores. After a long, beautiful cruise up the river through forests and along volcanic bluffs, we reached Newhalem.

This town was barely saved from fire last year and it is plainly evident when one gazes up at the massive lava and basalt mountains, now devoid of trees. Other forms of vegetation were tougher, however, and any place with a bit of soil left has short flowers and bushes making an emerald comeback.

We began to look for a place to pull over and dine along the Skagit and we kept finding very nice spots, all without a river view. We kept going up the river until we ultimately came to the town of Diablo. There, we broke out our luncheon materials just in time for a spectacular demonstration of lightning, thunder and torrential rain. We ate in the truck. Diablo was a small company town located right below the Diablo Dam which holds back Diablo Lake. There are very few folks living there now but all the original houses, theaters, commissaries, community centers and chow halls are still carefully maintained by Seattle Power, who owns the dam. There is a gigantic sloped elevator here that used to simultaneously hoist two aggregate hopper rail cars to the top of the dam, where they were emptied into the stockpiles for concrete materials.

After our lunch, we continued a bit further up Highway 20 which starts climbing rapidly above Diablo Lake. About ten miles up we pulled into a wayside where a tremendous view of the Lake can be enjoyed. This area is within the North Cascades National Park so there was a very knowledgeable docent who answered our questions about this stunning area.

The water in Diablo Lake and the Skagit River is turquoise, a product of flour-like ground up volcanic rock and grinding friction of glaciers at the headwaters. It is magnificent.

To see pictures of today’s scenery, click the link. https://photos.app.goo.gl/j3N2ijhkeJUNkk3Z7

As I age, it seems that I become more and more afflicted with geezer-type injuries. Just yesterday, or was it the day before that, I was making my ordinary trip up three interior steps and through the hatch-like opening into our trailer’s bedroom level. I reached out to grab the corner of the tiny bathroom enclosure wall in an attempt to lever my way up the last step. There was a faint pop and a slight twinge in my right elbow but they did not seem to be otherwise noticeable at the time.

This morning I woke up and discovered my elbow now seemed to be sending messages that something more substantial may be involved. It feels that now I cannot extend my arm to the straight position nor bend it far enough to touch my big head without considerable pain. Bummer.

Therefore, Peggy was very nice about it and agreed that we would let my Alzheimer’s elbow take a break today. We limited our excursion to downtown Concrete (all one street of it) where we picked up some fairly tasty cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We took our rolls and drove a bit back toward our campground before pulling out at a nifty wildlife overlook adjacent to OR-20. We have seen elk herds here on many occasions but currently the the majestic critters are up in their summer pastures on the flanks of Mount Baker, a big honker of a volcano north of Concrete. We missed any elk but did get to see one lone deer almost at the end of our vision that was grazing way out of range of rifles on the road. Locals aren’t supposed to kill anything around the overlook because the land is owned by the Skagit Land Trust, an organization that purchases large tracts of land and places them off limits to development or farming forever. I might leave some money to these folks after I die from exsanguination after cutting off my traitor arm.

We were back on the road today in our quest northward. We did all the required tank dumping and pulled out of Tall Chief RV in a steady drizzle. We backtracked a bit on WA-202 into Fall City where we whirled around a roundabout and magically ended up on WA-203 northbound toward Monroe. It is a pleasant drive through nice forest and pasture lands with a few small towns sprinkled along the way. We almost flattened some pedestrians when a schmuck, who moments before cut us off, elected to slam on the brakes for some J-walkers. It is the first time I have heard my trailer tires skidding although the pavement was quite wet.

In Monroe, we turned west on WA-2 for about a dozen miles before merging onto I-5 north just outside Everett. Forty five miles north in Mount Vernon, the rain quit and we turned west on WA-12 through a town called Sedro Woolley (no kidding) where we know they sell the by far best hamburgers known at a place called Skagit Valley Burger. It is located in an old caboose alongside the road. They also make a bad-ass milkshake and have very tasty garlic fries that can keep folks turning away from your breath for some time. We had the trailer attached so we didn’t stop but we will be going back there in the next day or two.

We continued on WA-12, also called the North Cascades Scenic Highway, until we made it to Concrete. We turned off the road at the Grandy Creek Thousand Trails / KOA campground which is my favorite of all the Thousand Trails facilities. There is the Scenic Highway, North Cascades National Park, stunning views of Mount Baker (another volcano) just around the corner at Baker Lake, great food, a brewery, miles of roads on both sides of the magnificent Skagit River and beautiful camp sites in a mature grove of Douglas firs and red cedars. There is WiFi, a pool, a laundry, full hookups, a playground with a big bounce pillow for the younger folks and even a little store. We won’t be moving from here for more than a week and I would have stayed longer but I couldn’t get a reservation for the days around the 4^th of July because I may be an idiot with insufficient foresight to reserve early in gorgeous areas.

Strangely, fuel is cheaper here than anywhere else we have been this year. We spotted diesel selling for less than $3 a gallon, only $1.25 less than we were paying in California a couple weeks ago.

Today the weather was a bit on the dreary side but we were saved by a visit from my nephew (J.R.) and his marvelous companion (Maria). They live in Auburn, about an hour from where we are currently camped and were very nice about doing the driving to get to us. J.R. brought his dog, Bruno, who is a Tibetan mastiff and no larger than a normal industrial air compressor. It is fortunate Bruno is good-natured because he could eat almost anything he wanted with his victim being incapable of escaping a horrible death.

We hobnobbed with the relatives for a few pleasant hours when J.R.’s phone rang. It was his neighbor letting him know that his distant house had fire alarm noises coming out of it. The neighbor peered in J.R.’s window and the place was not filled with smoke. There were many theories about why the fire alarm was being obnoxious but none of them turned out to be true.

The actual reason for the worrying alarm turned out to be simpler than any of our theories. It turns out that J.R. has another rhinoceros-sized Tibetan mastiff that was left at the house because he has a slightly more abrasive personality than Bruno. The other dog, Bodie, was naughty at the house. His behavioral tidbit for today was to attempt to clean off the pan used to make breakfast at J.R.’s house this morning and in his man-hating clumsiness he had turned on the electric burner which ultimately vaporized the pan but left the house standing. The dog was unharmed and can continue his affection for his housemates and total, unwavering hate of male strangers and visitors. He would have loved to eat me the last time I visited J.R. and Maria but a sturdy muzzle kept him from biting off my arthritic hands or other projecting parts.

We were pretty boring today. We drove a few miles over to Issaquah or Sammamish (I really don’t know which) or another rich, white enclave with a similar Native American name where Peggy headed into Trader Joe’s for some unfettered shopping. We are fully stocked with loot and grub now.

The area around Fall City, where we are currently staying, is gorgeous and we ventured out to ogle some of it today. Before we even got our of our campsite, we noted some spotted towhees had been seduced by our bird feeder and have become regular visitors. There are also western tanagers, big Steller’s blue jays and a variety of little songbirds too quick for us to accurately identify. Unfortunately, a squirrel has also noted our bird feeder and he spends quite a bit of time jumping from adjacent vegetation onto the feeder in an attempt to get some of the goodies. He can’t hold on but his impacts with the feeder drain out a rain of seeds that he subsequently browses after hitting the ground.

We headed up some two-lane roads parallel to I-90 passing by Snoqualmie Falls and into the pretty town of Snoqualmie. There is an abundance of very spiffy architecture here and we stalked the back streets admiring the pretty buildings. The old train station is gorgeous and the flower pots attached to all the downtown streetlights are quite appealing. After a bit, we continued going east and soon came to North Bend, another pretty community that has really been built to serve their local folks. There are parks and bike trails, green spaces and a gorgeous library building. The town is built at the foot of Mount Si, a giant cliff rising more than 3,000 feet abruptly from the flat valley floor. I could be quite happy loafing here and enjoying the dramatic scenery.

Peggy and I used to eat at a pedestrian fast food Mexican restaurant called Taco Time in Coos Bay, OR, back when we were young. That Taco Time is now gone but there is one in North Bend so we headed over for some highly whiteyized Mexican cuisine. We noted that the drive-through lane menu had an item listed as “Crustos.” We didn’t have the necessary intestinal fortitude to sample these things, particularly with that name.

After Taco Time and the mystery food, we headed a bit further east on I-90 until we turned off at a place called the Watershed Education Center. Our initial reason for going there was to find a restroom. I was not optimistic about a place with that name but, as usual, I was delighted when we got there. Seattle’s water comes from this watershed and the water authority has built a beautiful museum/research facility/garden here and attending is free. They also have very nice restrooms.

As we walked into the facility from the parking lot, we noted a barely-audible drumming sound coming from somewhere. As we approached the interactive center, we came across a yard filled with lush plants, grasses and drums. They have arranged the drums beneath concealed tiny rubber tubes that squirt water in little short bursts that fall down and land on the drum heads. It sounds like the drums I used to hear in old western movies when the absolutely white good guy would blunder into the Indian village during a big powwow. We sat down and enjoyed several different drum sequences that change every couple minutes. The views from this garden of the surrounding area are magical.

This garden is right next to the interpretive museum where there are unique displays about the watershed. As the story of the area plays on two wide-screens and and the speakers, a topographic representation lights up to show how the mountains, rivers, lakes and valleys are affected and controlled to provide the best public use. They stated three-fourths of the water released from their system is to keep the salmon breeding here while about one-quarter goes to thirsty Seattleites.

This place closes at 5:00 PM so we were gently evicted at closing time and headed back to Tall Chief. We give the Watershed Education Center five stars on our scale of nifty spots. Five is the highest we can award according to the complete lack of rules and protocols we have.

There’s a few pictures. Click the link. https://photos.app.goo.gl/RKfMNMcAjevwxKab9

We were on the road again today. We reluctantly left Paradise RV in Silver Creek, WA, and headed about 15 miles west to pick up I-5. There, we headed north on the venerable freeway toward Seattle. The traffic was great until we got the Olympia, the state capital, where it started getting pretty crowded. There were many spots where construction was allegedly taking place although we didn’t detect any workers or snarling equipment. However, the barricades, lane closures and detours did affect the traffic from Tacoma north and progress slowed to a fast crawl. We bailed out of almost stopped traffic on I-5, instead cleverly slipping into almost stopped traffic on I-405. After considerable testing of brakes and acceleration, we turned east on I-90 and into a faster subgroup of of crazed Washington drivers. They seem strangely unable to merge, signal or refrain from tailgating.

The faster speed was fleeting, however. We soon turned off I-90 onto the Preston-Fall City Road for four miles until we popped out at OR-202, right near Tall Chief RV.

We have been to Tall Chief a couple times in the past. The park is located in a big stand of cedars, maples and alders so thick that neighboring RVers are not visible from our rented space. We got in through the RPI membership program we subscribe to so the cost at the gate was $11.11 per day instead of the $40 or $50 charged to the unprepared. There is WiFi at the lodge and the campground has a summertime pool. There are no sewer hookups at the individual spaces so upon departure we have to go through the inconvenience of visiting the dump station to leave our shit behind. It’s not a big deal. I am just complaining because I’m whiney. Shopping is nearby, the surrounding area is pretty and just up I-90 is fabulous scenery which we may check out tomorrow.

We were lucky with our selection of travel time today. About an hour after we got all set up and happy in our RV, it started to rain quite copiously. I’m sure glad we don’t camp in a tent.