Washington, Oregon, and Northern California (June 9 - June 20, 2021)
“Carousel horses are not just made of wood. They are painted with memories” - Bette Largent
Sometimes we stay at the same RV Park for ten days. Sometimes we visit three states, travel 1000 plus miles, and stay at four different locations in ten days. RVing is interesting in that way. Most of the time, we have a plan but never really know exactly what we’ll be doing one day to the next. Once in awhile we end up changing course to visit an unexpected point of interest or to avoid bad weather. We did both on this leg of the trip and we love that RVing gives us this type of flexibility.
When we left Glacier National Park, our ultimate goal was to reach San Jose California by June 20th where our next set of visitors would be meeting us. We knew we’d be traveling through Washington, Oregon, and Northern California but hadn’t had any concrete plans or reservations made when we left home in February. At some point along the way, we made campground reservations in Crescent City CA, and Trinity Lake CA, and planned to Harvest Host, with no particular locations in mind, in Washington and Oregon for a few days before reaching California. Lucky for us, there were several Harvest Host options to choose from along our route and we were able to reserve a few quickly.
We spent very little time in Washington State. In fact, just an overnight at Hidden Acres Orchard near Spokane. We parked at a beautiful spot overlooking the apple orchard and spent the evening walking through the orchards and visiting with the resident petting zoo animals. It had been a while since we were without hookups and were surprised that our water pump had quit working at some point. The next morning we stopped at a nearby Camping World for a new pump and Charley had the new one installed in just a few minutes.
We then traveled to northern Oregon where we had made reservations at another Harvest Host location, Blown Away Ranch near Ione, Oregon. We absolutely loved this Harvest Host stay! Blown Away Ranch is a family-owned, working wheat farm but they also have several wind turbines on their property. The hosts were so gracious with their space and time. They had multiple parking options to choose from – even in the middle of the wheat field next to a wind turbine if we wanted. It was a super windy day which was a challenge for driving so we opted to get out of the wind by parking between two of their farm buildings. We still had amazing views of the wheat fields and wind turbines and we loved waking up to that view in the morning.
In a previous post, I mentioned meeting some nice folks while we were touring the Copper King Mansion in Butte, Montana. David and Linda were visiting Butte from Idaho but had previously lived in the Albany Oregon area where David volunteered at the Albany Historic Carousel and Museum. They suggested that a visit to the museum was worth the time if we were ever in that area. David even offered to put us in contact with Jack Giles who is the lead animal carver at the museum. Charley later made reservations at the KOA in Albany, I messaged Jack and suddenly we had something to look forward to in Oregon.
I can’t tell you how lucky we feel to have crossed paths with David and Linda! The Albany carousel museum wasn’t just a fun way to spend an afternoon. It was a unique experience that we never dreamed we’d have on this trip. The carousel concept was the brainchild of a woman named Wendy Kirbey who, along with some other Albany residents, thought that Albany needed an attraction. Wendy had always loved carousels and proposed the idea of creating a carousel in town. Her project was approved, a nonprofit organization was created and Wendy and her team of volunteers set out to build a carousel. A 1909 wooden carousel mechanism was donated in pieces and over a period of ten years was rebuilt in a warehouse (later dismantled and reassembled in its permanent home). Meanwhile, volunteers were raising six million dollars for a building to house the carousel and other volunteers, including our new friend David, began the animal carving process. Each carousel animal is sponsored by a person, family or business at a cost of five thousand to ten thousand dollars depending on its’s location on the carousel. Once a donor chooses an animal, they work with Jack as the lead carver, the lead painter, and a team of artists to personalize it. From start to finish, each animal takes about 1200 to 1500 hours (3 to 5 years) to complete. Five years might seem like a long time but one look at one of these unique pieces of art and you understand why. They are gorgeous and detailed like no other carousel animal I’ve ever seen (sorry Broome County). As Jack lead us on a tour of the building he told us about the history of the project, explained the sponsorship process, and showed us around the carving room, painting room, and museum. This community labor of love took nearly fifteen years to come to fruition which speaks volumes to the dedication of the volunteers that made it happen. The first carousel animal was sponsored and chosen in 2003 and the carousel officially opened to the public in August 2017. Thirty of the 52 animals were in place on opening day so the carving and painting process will continue for several more years. At some point, PBS caught wind of the project and produced a documentary called Ride which was available for purchase in the museum gift shop. We’re so glad to have it as a keepsake of our time at the museum and the generosity of strangers who made this unique experience happen for us.
From Albany, we made our way to Crescent City California via Highway 101, the Pacific Coast Highway. One of our goals for this trip was to stick our feet (or hands) in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It took us 106 days to finally reach the Pacific Ocean, actually first laying eyes on it in Oregon as we traveled south into California. The Pacific Coast, at least the portion we’ve seen, reminds me a lot of the coast of Maine. Few beaches, mostly rocky overlooks but so incredibly beautiful! Our campground in Crescent City got some less than stellar google reviews so I was a bit apprehensive. Charley asked me to keep an open mind (I’ve gotten pretty good at that on this trip) and to my surprise, it was a wonderful stop! So good in fact, we stayed an extra three days to avoid the excessive heat forecasted for our next stop in Trinity Lake CA. There was no shortage of things to keep us occupied in Crescent City for a few extra days. Our campground was located right across the street from The Crescent City Harbor District and within walking distance of the Battery Point Lighthouse. We enjoyed looking at the boats in the harbor and loved watching the seals and sea lions lounging nearby. The Redwood National Park was within just a few miles of our campground as well. Words like “big” and “huge” really can’t even describe the Redwoods. Not only are these trees gigantic, everything in the forest seems to be oversized including nearly shoulder height ferns and huge slugs called Banana Slugs. We even spent an afternoon at a local attraction Trees of Mystery where we walked along the redwood canopy trail (a series of bridges suspended between several redwoods up to 100 feet off the ground) and then enjoyed a gondola ride above the Redwoods. We were afraid Trees of Mystery might be a bit of a tourist trap but it really wasn’t. We had a wonderful time there!
I loved that this leg of the trip was full of pleasant surprises (except the water pump issue)! It’s crazy to think that we’ll be heading east soon which means we’ll be entering the home stretch of this trip. I’m already beginning to wonder what it will be like going back to a normal life. For now, I’m just going to enjoy every day as it comes.