We were not under any scheduling constraints today so we ended up mostly fooling around. We had B&E for breakfast, progressed into some Mimosas, spent a good deal of time identifying the abundant local birds and other wildlife and even took a drive into Burlington, Mount Vernon and the surrounding countryside.
We visited the Burlington Camping World, a store deliberately set up to make sure you depart with a vague sense of disappointment. They make folks queue up at the parts desk which seems to be rarely staffed by employees. Checkout is made into a nightmare through malfunctioning computers, staff incapable of fixing them and policies that require checkers to ask you if you want to join Good Sam, buy Good Sam roadside assistance policies, purchase extended warranties, inquire whether you found everything you wanted (never) and to look baffled when they make a mistake which they almost always do.
We also stopped in at a Coleman store where everything Coleman was for sale. We purchased another air bed for our daughter because the mattress she used when visiting us last week was flat in the morning. We had her leave it so we could attempt to determine the leak location and repair it. We were unsuccessful so we fixed her mattress problem another way. We also got got her a 12 volt mattress inflator because blowing up her failed unit almost killed Peggy when using lung power. I prefer compressors and could not be induced to fill it up by breathing alcohol-laced halitosis into its innards.
After the lightweight shopping, we took a spin to the nearby shoreline of Padilla Bay and the Strait of Georgia in Puget Sound. Looking south we could see Anacortes across the bay along with a big pulp mill spewing pink steam. Looking north is a gorgeous view of Strait and the mountainous islands sticking out of the Sound. We also made a side trip through the town of Edison where we found a skinny main drag extending about 2 blocks between cute historic buildings housing small restaurants, bars and antiques. Peggy and I want to return to Edison before our departure from this part of the world. Our daughter is scheduled to visit us in Bow tomorrow and perhaps she will want to go, too.
We took some pictures. See ’em by clicking here

Today was a travel day. We cleaned up and re-packed all the stuff from our trailer that we had spread around during our 11-day stay at Grandy Creek TT near Concrete, WA. We had lounged around the trailer drinking fortified coffee before starting our work so, by the time we left, it was mandatory check-out time of 11:00 AM.
We were fortunate in that we had a very short trip to our next campsite, Mount Vernon RV Resort, in Bow. We are baffled as to why the campground in Bow would be named after Mount Vernon, a community a few miles south of Bow. It is about 25 miles from Concrete and we were pulling into registration before noon. Peggy set up the reservation at this facility and the timing was impeccable. We had settled into a site with satellite reception and plenty of room before noticing that there was a strong, steady stream of folks entering the park behind us. By late afternoon, not a single space remained in the park because of all the folks getting out of town for the 4th of July weekend.
Mount Vernon RV Resort has gravel roads, very few sewer hookups (we didn’t get one), almost non-existent honey wagon service (Tuesdays and Thursdays but not on holidays instead of daily), no campground wifi, nifty restroom/shower facilities, ample nearby beautiful scenery, a nearby casino and tobacco outlet and a tremendous variety of birds. We set the feeder out right after arrival.
Our arrival time was so early in the day that we had plenty of time to drive down to Mount Vernon’s Costco store to load up on groceries and liquor. We could tell we must have acquired quite a bit of stuff because the tab was almost $500. We picked up a close relative of Irish Cream that they sell in WA called O’Mara’s. It is called Irish Country Cream and is made from wine which seems a little weird. Regular Irish Cream, like Bayley’s or Kirkland, is very costly in WA due to their onerous sin tax on liquor. The same bottle of Kirkland Irish Cream that costs $16 in California sells at a state-regulated price of $31 here in the state named after our first president. O’Mara’s sells the same sized bottle for $13, a product of a vigorous wine industry lobbying effort that limits or eliminates taxes on grape-derived products. Gotta love special interests working on behalf of the impoverished vineyard owners at the expense of the rest of us affluent drunks, alcoholics and rummies.

Peggy and I, despite our collective, razor-sharp memories, cannot seem to recollect anything productive we did today other than buying eggs from a nice lady named Barbara, who owns some property next to our campground. We also seem to remember cleaning up our campsite but little else. The minds are the first things to go.

The Lower Skagit River Valley was our target for today. Although WA-20 runs along the north bank of the Skagit River from Anacortes on Puget Sound to Okanagan in north-central Washington, we decided to scout both sides of the River from Concrete to Sedro Woolley without using 20. As it turns out, there are alternate and very scenic roads that meander along both shorelines.
The north side of the river holds gigantic pastures divided up by stands of massive, mature hardwoods. Many of the residences along the road are architecturally stunning and lots of folks have brilliant flower gardens and great landscaping. Between the residences are sections of road with green canopies of trees that put the road in endless shade.
The south shore doesn’t seem to be as heavily populated as the north side and the road runs right along the edge of the River with rock cliffs on the other side of the pavement. Where cuts are close to the road, small waterfalls are spread along the route. Moss covers almost everything in the shady grottoes of trees. The loop around the Lower Skagit River is gorgeous.
When we closed the loop at Concrete, we decided we needed a reward for fooling around all day and stopped for the second time at Annie’s Pizza. We got a pizza with Canadian Bacon, chicken, bacon, Gorgonzola cheese sauce along with the usual mozzarella on a perfectly-cooked crust. Our brains failed us on selecting a size and we ended up with almost half going home in a box. Oh, goody! I doubt the remainder will survive past 9:00 PM.
We made another foray into the National Forest north of Concrete, driving up a skinny, gravel, serpentine, single-lane road to the Shannon Lake boat ramp. We don’t have much to do with boats but the view of Mt. Shuksan, Mt. Baker, the surrounding forested mountains and the lake in the foreground is magnificent. Don’t let the crappy road frighten you – folks we met were driving carefully and were very nice about pulling out where it was easy for everyone.
It is difficult to imagine a region more suited to our needs. Here, in June, in or near our campground a few miles from Concrete we can enjoy nearby good food, a beautiful campground (although wifi would be nice), an adjacent turquoise-colored river, an air museum, extraordinary mountain scenery, volcanoes, engineering projects like dams and powerhouses, glaciers, massive lakes and substantial waterfalls. The locals have been nice, too.
There’s some pix of stuff we passed by today. To see ’em, click here

It started as another sunny day but the temperatures were a lot lower than the last couple days. Unfortunately, that meant that we were going to perform some quick maintenance around the trailer. It commenced with a waste tank dump but then transformed into a downspout and caulking installation task that was anything but quick.
According to the instructions on the plastic downspout replacement box, the only things needed to effect the quick repair were a screwdriver and a box cutter. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Maybe because the way our trailer was assembled at the factory, some customization of the new plastic downspout itself was required to make it fit. Considerable caulk scraping, cutting, cursing and pry bar work was performed before the previously installed broken downspout could be removed. Before we completed the job, we only needed a ladder, a drill motor, a paint scraper, a box cutter, a couple razor blades, straight and square-bit screwdrivers, two hours of properly adhered old caulk removal, multiple applications of Goo-B-Gone, a tube of silicone caulk and a caulking gun, all of which we surprisingly had. We believe we were successful but will know more when we get back into some rainy weather.
We rewarded ourselves with barbecued veggies and meat but only a little liquor. I can say that if we have to do any further trailer maintenance (and it seems evident we will), then I hope we get to do it in a place like Concrete. It is beautiful here.

Exploration was the plan for today so we headed east up the Skagit River into the North Cascades National Park. The road, WA-20, runs right close to our campground in Concrete so we left the park, turned left but almost immediately found the Concrete Sauk Valley Road that runs up the other side of the river from 20. It is a very scenic drive with almost no traffic so Peggy and I could putt along enjoying the terrific roadside forest and pasture at about 25 mph without trapping faster drivers behind us because there weren’t any. About an hour later, we emerged on WA-530 which took us back across the Skagit into the tiny burg of Rockport.
In Rockport we turned east again and headed into the more mountainous part of the road. We passed through places with names like Corkindale, Marblemount and Newhalem where we entered the park. The road continues climbing toward Diablo and Ross Lakes, passing through some of the most beautiful country on the planet. Massive trees, waterfalls, the turquoise Skagit and magnificent volcanic geology are the highlights. There are some small dams that can be visited, a great park visitor center and stunning overlooks liberally dotted along the roadside. Peggy and I have passed this way before on previous visits but today was the first time when the weather was sunny and the views were extraordinary.
Above Ross Lake we turned back toward home, backtracking down the exact route we used going up. The scenery was just as fantastic going the other way.
We took some pictures along the way and you can see some of them if you click here

Today the weather, which has been quite nice since the rain quit earlier this week, went to sunny with a vengeance. It was about 90 so we spent the day enjoying the benefits of air conditioning inside the Barbarian Invader. A portable hard drive packed with movies, good books and clear satellite reception helped us endure. We were slugs.

The kids chose to sleep on an air bed in Dana’s Subaru last night and they learned what Peggy and I have decided is a universal truth – airbeds invariably leak. Being kids, however, they still didn’t climb out of their bedroom until around 10. We rustled them up some breakfast here inside the Barbarian Invader and augmented it with some fortified coffee and Mimosas with beer later.
After everybody got all their morning showers and other duties completed, we took the kids on a spin to some of the local sights. Peggy and I purchased a Washington State Parks pass a few days ago so the first destination was now-free Rasar State Park, not five miles from our camping spot. This park is snuggled up along a gorgeous section of the Skagit River. The camping sites are large, they can accommodate RVs, the camping spots are nestled in a very shady grove of massive conifers and hardwoods and there are bathrooms and showers that look clean and modern. This would be a great place to be during those few days each year when Pacific Northwest is hot.
From the state park we headed north onto federal lands up to Baker Lake. Driving up the road from Concrete there are superb views of Mt. Shuksan and Mount Baker, which is really a massive volcano that occasionally vents a bit of steam to worry the locals. Baker Lake is filled by glacial runoff from the mountains and it is not only azure blue, but freezing cold. Along the roads are ample foxglove and little yellow flowers. The forest the road passes through is about as close to a jungle as one might find in the temperate zones; the massive forest trees and thick tangled brush make walking away from the highway impossible without a chainsaw. It is gorgeous.
Baker Dam is the plug that holds back Baker Lake. It is one of the few dams in the U.S. that Homeland Security has not surrounded with fencing and concertina wire and motorists can actually drive across the top of the dam. Driving over the dam there is water right up next to the truck on one side and a precipitous drop on the other. Motorists are advised that the top of the dam is only one lane wide so check to see it is clear before proceeding or you may end up backing down a very narrow passage for a very long way.
After admiring the beautiful North Cascades National Park sights for a few hours, we returned to our RV park the kids to their car for their return trip south. They departed around 6:00 and so did we; Dana and Devon going to south to Mukilteo and Peggy and me going over to Bow to watch the sprint cars race at Skagit Raceway. Many roaring engines were heard and some very expensive sprint cars were damaged or destroyed but no drivers were hurt. It was pretty good fun although Peg and I have decided we like the old beater racing we have seen at smaller tracks better than sprints.
There are some pictures. Click here

There was a whirlwind of activity around the Grandy Creek TT spot for our trailer today. Peggy was mostly responsible, me to a much lesser extent. Our daughter, Dana, and her man, Devon, were scheduled to visit us after making the drive here from Mukilteo (no kidding) late in the day. Peggy was furiously pursuing little housekeeping chores so the trailer would look better than it normally does. I went outside and did the very Jed-type task of dumping the waste tanks.
We went to the local market in Concrete (the Red Apple) and we purchased beer to augment our already substantial stockpile, produce and cheese. We failed on the cheese due to a poor selection. The prices are high but not terrifying. The road to the market passes a big pasture with a roadside turnout where elk can be spotted grazing on some nice Skagit Trust grass.
Our shopping trip ultimately ended up being for nought because after Devon and Dana arrived, we went out to eat at Annie’s Pizza in Concrete. Annie’s serves up some very unique flavors of pizza with selections like Cordon Bleu, garlic chicken Caesar, teriyaki and pizza fajita. We got a calzone and a Cordon Bleu pizza and they were amazingly scrumptious. It is fortunate that we do not live here because I would eat there all the time, swelling to the size of a zeppelin. Prices were reasonable with four of us getting away for around $50. Ordering is done at a counter but, once the food finally gets prepared, the workers deliver it to the table. Patrons get a glass for drinks and the soda machine is over there.
After dinner we returned to our campsite and broke out our portable fire. We have a little metal apparatus that hooks up to a propane tank so, once the user lights it without blowing himself up, there remains a small, sparkless fire raised above the ground that looks a bit like a burning pile of small sticks. We can use it in places where ground fires are prohibited much to the chagrin of other campers who don’t have one. Hahahaha.

The weather is finally beginning to cooperate. Yesterday in the late afternoon, the rain quit. This morning there were clouds for a bit but they burned off by late morning and we we able to begin work on the onerous maintenance tasks we had on backorder.
Our first tasks were to replace out trailer’s vent/skylight covers that had been holed by conifer cones dropping from great heights onto or, more realistically, through our trailer’s existing cheesy plastic vent covers.
Nothing in RVs is very substantial or well-engineered so we started up the procedure with grim outlooks. We soon found that the vents have to be totally disassembled from both the inside and the outside (the roof) completely exposing the terrible workmanship used to assemble the normally concealed RV components like roof structures and walls in order to facilitate the replacement operations. Much sweating, stretching, cursing and disgust ensued but we finally had two new operable vent covers installed and you can hardly see any of the damage.
Then I went to work on our electrical umbilical. Two days ago we spent most of a day finding the replacement parts. Today, after only a a couple hours, I had replaced the umbilical’s end connector and installed a 90 degree adapter such that our electrical supply cordset is almost the way we really wanted it. When we plugged it in and energized the system, nothing blew up or caught fire so we must be okay. If I could still get one, I would have gotten a stiffy.
We celebrated our achievements with some wine and whiskey and felt quite satisfied with ourselves once our chores were complete. The weather has finally decided to cooperate and by late afternoon we had sunny skies and great views of the surroundings. It is very beautiful here, when you can see it.