Random Roadrunner Photos

We are here in Pacific Beach, Washington.  We made the three hour drive from Tacoma and it was an easy travel day on Tuesday after the 4th of July.

Over the last couple of months we have seen some random and interesting things I thought I share with you.

Before we left the Fort Lewis/McChord Field area we saw this Chinook Army helicopter do some training a couple hundred yards away from our campsite.  The crazy thing landed in the water, hovered for a while and took off as fast as it arrived.  It blew a lot of water around and stirred things up.  Needless to say it surprised us and we got front row seats!

A couple of days ago we had some excitement with the awful sound of ripping metal.  It leaves you sick in your stomach when you hear it, even if it is not your rig.

We were in the Roadrunner and watched a 5th wheel depart the campground in front of our campsite. Only he made a turn that was too tight.  Ugh!  He stopped pretty quickly but then misjudged things more and tried to drive straight on and get by the corner of the roof he just snagged with his 5th wheel.

After ripping a bigger hole in the side and knocking off a facia sideboard at the corner, he stopped.  A couple of us went outside and gawked a minute but there was not much we could do.  After he got out and looked at the damage, he back up, drove around and maneuvered by it.

This douglas fir near Mt Rainier is pegged at starting to grow in 1293.  That is a lot of years ago.

It was pretty fascinating to see something that old.

During our day trip to Seattle, we saw a lot of street vendors, including one that was selling these two paintings:

Cute.

Recently, sometimes neighbors we hardly know were very generous.  Dave drove in the campsite next to us and he asked if we liked crab.  I almost said 'no' because my experience has been it usually is a lot of work for little satisfaction.  But I said yes and he gave us two large halves to work with.

Turns out he had been crabbing earlier in the day, caught his limit of 'indigenous' crab, and let us have two large halves.

Like always, it was a little bit of work, but this was delicious!  It may have been the best crab I have ever had!

I have often said there are many ways to do this RV thing.  In Idaho we saw a couple in a campsite next to us who had a unique arrangement. They pulled a little trailer that was the size of a pickup.  It had two side walls that folded out for beds on each side.

It looked like a sturdy chassis and a good size tent for their pop up.  The weather was a little cool, but the hardy couple didn't seem to mind it.  They had a screened in gazebo for all their cooking and lounge chairs.

Back in New Mexico, we took a day trip to Bandelier National Monument near where the recent forest fires have been in Los Alamos.

The weather was nice then and we took advantage of it with a day trip there to see the cliff dwellings.  This reminds me of how much we have seen in the two short months since we were there.

Now we are here

on the Pacific coast in the great Northwest and enjoying a different kind of beauty.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Hope you are having a great summer!

Summer in the Northwest

We left Spokane and made the 6 1/2 drive to the Tacoma area.  We stopped for lunch at a scenic overview spot along the Columbia River.

The day was mixed- some clouds and some sun.   The traffic got a little crowded along I-5 but we made it to the Camp Murray ANG Recreation Area without incident.  It is across I-5 from McChord Field and Fort Lewis.

We didn't expect a whole lot from our campsite, but we were pleasantly surprised to get a spot on the water with a large grassy area under a shade tree.

We checked out nearby Fort Lewis (the historic gate says "Camp Lewis") and played golf there on Friday.

On Saturday, we drove into Seattle and walked around.  It was a another beautiful day!

Near the Market Center we peeked into the original Starbucks.  It was crowded!  Summer was bursting out all over along the water in the city park.

On the way out of town we drove over to the Space Needle.

Yesterday, we took a day trip to Mt Rainier.  We could see it in the distance from Seattle and also out near our campsite, but we wanted to learn more about it.It was about a 90 minute drive and along the way there were some beautiful scenes.

Once in the National Park, we found more beauty.

At the top, we checked the lodge, Vistor's Center and the Guide Center.

This side of the mountain was known as Paradise.  It was beautiful and the snow was still pretty deep!

On the way down the mountain, we went over to Reflection Lake

But the lake was still frozen over and there was no reflection!

It was fairly warm and it may all melt in the next month?

Later, we drove back to our campground and cooked on the grill.  Puget Sound was full of boaters and we watched all the activity.  Later, 4th of July fireworks went off and continued well past 11:00 PM.  It was another great day.

We are thoroughly enjoying our time in the majestic Northwest!

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  And as always, thanks for your comments!
Until next time...