Today we were slugs. We sat under the trailer’s canopy outside and got in some reading. We watched the birds. I dumped the waste tanks. Peggy and I took a stroll over to Grandy Creek. That’s about it.

All of our necessary shopping being completed yesterday, we had today open for some exploring the gorgeous back roads of the Upper Skagit Valley. We started upriver on WA-20 but crossed to the south bank road and followed it to Rockport. We covered this territory a few weeks ago when we were here and thought it was very pretty. It still is.
At WA-530 we turned north into Rockport. Once we got east of Rockport, we turned off onto some substantially skinnier roads than 20. Mount Baker and it’s substantial glaciers are visible from many spots in this area. Turn around and you will see the turquoise waters of the Skagit River. It is beautiful country. There was very little traffic.
We tried to get some widely-touted cinnamon rolls in Marblemount but failed. The bakery seems to sell out early in the day and we are averse to jumping up at the crack of dawn to drive 15 miles for a tasty heart plug. They gave us a card with a phone number and if we want to try again, they will set some pastry aside for us if we call before their supply is devoured. Along the roads east of Marblemount there are a few farms, massive forests of conifers on the high ground and hardwoods close to the river. We spotted a bald eagle. The hardwoods create gorgeous canopies that make for long drives in the shade. Waterfalls can be spotted where the road passes near rock cliffs and creeks slide under the road about every mile or two. There are many widely-scattered classic old houses set back from the roads.
We were going to stop at a place called the Rockport Pub but they had a sign out front on which was written “Hippies Enter By The Back Door.” My hair is getting a little long and Peggy’s hangs past the middle of her back so we put the throttle down and figured we would try elsewhere. On our way back downriver, Peggy pulled out at Rockport State Park where we pulled over for a hike through a tiny patch of old-growth forest. It may be the only old-growth forest around here because everything else we have seen had been logged at one time or another. I was an old-growth logger back when men were stupid and sitting in a beautiful grove of giant trees without hearing a chainsaw is quite serene.
We still had some time left for exploring so we chose to explore the Birdsview Brewery close to where our RV is set up near Concrete. Birdsview does not offer a porter so we were not entirely delighted although their ale was tasty. Before we could get hammered, we drove the mile home and did the rest of today’s drinking there.
We have pix. Click here

We are back in Grandy Creek Thousand Trails campground, one of our favorite parks. Nice as the park may be, we were getting low on vittles and shopping was necessary. We hopped into Charlotte, drove upriver for a few miles, crossed over to the south bank and followed the absolutely stunning road back downriver to Burlington where we dropped in at Costco.
After considerable wandering, we checked out with a big, expensive supply of tasty stuff to cram into the freezer back in our trailer 30-something miles upriver. We drove back upriver on the south bank even though it is longer that way. On the north bank is WA-20, a good road with speeds around 50. The south bank road is a bit more curvy and the best we could maintain is about 30 because we keep slowing down for the fabulous scenery.
We got home and broke out a whole bunch of our recently acquired loot and barbecued it. This retirement stuff is pretty nice.

Preparations we made yesterday made for a speedy departure this morning from the La Conner Thousand Trails facility. We were all done leaving our black and gray water at the dump station by 10:00 AM and were on the way north to WA-20. Once there, we turned east for the second visit this year to Grandy Creek Thousand Trails near Concrete. It is only about a 35 or 40 mile drive.
In this very blog I have noisily railed at backtracking during our explorations, greatly preferring to always cover new territory instead of passing the same spot twice. However, we have found that we truly enjoy the Concrete area which offers magnificent local views, Mount Baker NP, North Cascades NP, the Skagit River, dense forests, bison, elk, lots of birds, easy access to groceries and very tasty food at Annie’s Pizza Station about 3 miles away. The campground is very pretty with us RV-types spread out through a grove of large Douglas fir, cedar and hemlock trees. They have sewer hookups in most spaces here but the wifi requires a trip to the local activity center.
At about 11:00, we pulled into Grandy Creek only to be told by staff that we needed to wait until 12:00 to register despite our reservation. We were directed to park in a remote parking lot but fortuitously noted a very desirable spot on our way there and we naughtily backed in. All the other folks that might have wanted the spot saw it was already full of our waiting trailer and looked elsewhere. I do not feel remorse over not following directions, in this case.
We have full hookups and the satellite dish we set up has reception from the lofty satellites and we have TV. There are lots of dogs here and we like that. We are scheduled here for 12 days so there won’t be any travel days for a while. We like that; unfettered exploration and fooling around are right around the corner.
On the drive over we spotted a couple nice cars. You can see ’em if you click here

Peggy and I took a loop drive around Fidalgo Island. The city of Anacortes is on Fidalgo and we drove into town before we saw a big banner over the main drag touting Shipwreck Day. Not too much further down the street we spotted a barricade across the road that had a myriad of colored tents behind it. It appeared that many people had set up booths selling stuff we could not possibly need so we turned off the main drag and headed through the residential neighborhoods of Anacortes.
Anacortes is sort of the end of the world, if you don’t count the car ferry that leaves the dock at Anacortes and stops at Lopez Island, Friday Harbor and other San Juan Islands destinations before dropping most of the cars at Sydney on Vancouver Island, B.C. You drive onto Fidalgo Island and into town from the southeast and if you don’t take the ferry you will leave back down the same road. There is ocean everywhere. There are some beautiful historic homes in town and the city, as a whole, is quite attractive. In the summer, anyway.
On our way home, we stopped by Black Rock Seafoods and stocked up the freezer with clams and albacore. We have patronized Black Rock on previous visits and have been delighted with the results.
Back in the campground, Peggy and I cleaned up from our recent get-together and picked up our outdoor stuff and stowed it back aboard the Barbarian Invader. Tomorrow we depart from La Conner and return to the absolutely gorgeous Thousand Trails Grandy Creek up WA-20 near Concrete. We spent 11 days there earlier this summer and we liked it so much we are headed back for 12 more days.
There is a picture of some of our fellow campers you can see if you click here

Peg’s sister and brother-in-law, Tonie and George, were the early risers this morning. When I got up at a time I would consider about normal for us, George and Tonie were already seated in the early morning sunshine outside our door reading the Skagit Valley Herald. Multiple pots of coffee and some Irish Cream later, we started on breakfast for the first shift diners. It was a bacon, fried potato, link sausage, cheese and egg scramble for breakfast, most of which I pre-cooked yesterday while Peggy, her sister and our daughter went on a visit to La Conner’s Quilt Museum.
Dana and Devon got up a bit later and we repeated the feeding ritual. George and Tonie had some chores at home so they split about noon. Dana and Devon stayed on and we took a cruise around the La Conner area stopping downtown for ice cream. There, I put on a demonstration of How Not To Eat An Large Ice Cream Cone On A Hot Day by inadvertently dribbling on my shirt like a vegetable having a cocoa. I was appalled at my sloppiness and we quickly returned home so I could take off the proof.
Dana and Devon split around 6:00 PM and Peggy and I returned to our quiet but thoroughly enjoyable lifestyle. We will take the trash and numerous beer bottles to the dumpster and recycling center tomorrow.

There was an influx of guests at our trailer today. About mid-morning, our daughter, her boyfriend and Peggy’s sister arrived at this end of their trip from Mukilteo. A few hours later, Peggy’s brother-in-law arrived filling the last available parking spot in our huge campsite. We were very fortunate with our RV spot this year.
Considerable banter, hobnobbing and yakking followed interrupted occasionally by strolls down to the edge of Puget Sound to admire the scenery. A dinner of brats and fruit salad, a small fire and several beers made for a nice conclusion to our day. We climbed into our Invader and the guests crawled off to their cars for the night.

This morning we were both awakened by a terrific chorus of birds, perhaps unhappy with the seed assortment in our bird feeder. It hasn’t affected the rate at which the abundant variety of local birds empty the truncated cone. We put a couple pounds in daily.
Peggy, being a good egg, whipped up breakfast for us before we slipped out of the campground for some aimless wandering and a hunt for produce stands. Last time we were here, we found a honor system stand where we acquired some good stuff. We found it again today but the honor system might not have panned out because the stand was closed. Undefeated, Peggy tried to direct me to another stand where we have previously had success and it was open but had almost no produce although they had acres of potted plants and an invalid liquor sales license.
We started to surrender on the quest but Peggy directed me to a last chance joint called Grocery Outlet Bargain Market in Mount Vernon and we were able fill our fruit and veggies requirement along with some milk and beer. Success!
Back at La Conner Campground we shoveled our stuff into the trailer cabinets and then went outside to check out the birds. The biggest group sucked in by the feeder has been nuthatches although there are twohees, Stellar’s blue jays and an large raptor like a hawk pursued by many pissed-off ravens. Maybe the raptor ate one of the kiddies and the folks were merely expressing their discontent. We took a walk down to the edge of the Sound. The tide was in for today’s visit, obscuring the hull-wrecking jagged rocks plainly visible during yesterday’s low tide. It was gorgeous.

Today was a travel day. We checked out of the Thousand Trails Birch Bay RV Resort just outside of Blaine and headed south on I-5. We couldn’t go any further north without passing into Canada and that was not on the plan. This is the first time we have gone south on I-5 in a long time.
We followed I-5 down to WA-20 where we turned west toward Anacortes. Just before getting into town, we turned south along Skagit Bay. Soon, we were on Snee Oosh Road (no kidding) and pulling into another Thousand Trails facility, La Conner Campground. The campground has maybe 275 camp spots, has no sewer hookups (except at about 30 always-full sites), gravel roads, great brush and forest screens between sites and no wifi. They also are located such that there is no cell data or phone service. The caveats are that we get to stay up to 21 days free, it is safe and secure at night and it is located at the edge of beautiful Skagit Bay or Similk Bay depending on the map you are looking at. Peggy and I stroll from our RV spot over to see the water in the afternoons.
Not far from our RV park is the Swinomish Reservation. They have their own village across the Swinomish Canal from upscale La Conner. They also have a big casino located out on WA-20. We can see the fisherpersons from the Swinomish side of the canal out fishing in the Sound using gill nets and chubby little boats with big net reels in their bows. Back in the village, fireworks sales sheds covered with bunting are being trucked back to storage.

Today we had the duty. We washed clothes, found and used the internet, dumped the waste tanks, hunted for some rhubarb to purchase, picked up fuel and made a trip to the local recreational marijuana store. It was quite mundane so I’ll cut it off here.