This has become one of my favorite places to stop when heading south. There are several comping options, all very reasonable in price, and the scenery is great. I'm in a county park next to the Deschutes River (like, yards away) for $10 dry-camping. And no one else is here. When the sun goes down, the temperatures will drop into the low forties because I'm at 4200 feet elevation. That's the warning that autumn is on it's way and I had better pay...
I always stop here for an overnight when heading south from Yakima. It's a free spot on the Columbia, just below the John Day dam. Popular with kite-boarders, there's always something to watch. Sacramento is where I'm heading where I can do a few days before heading to Reno. A bonus is that I'll meet up with Howie and Nora there. Next stop is La Pine, Oregon to try out a new place to park. I've already found three good places there, a better...
The casual tourist or passer-by will find the mint very nice around here, but living amongst it is getting to me. I wish I could turn it off. My eyes are burning and my throat is dry and scratchy. But maybe that could be from the hops, which are just as aromatic and as the harvest picks up speed the aromas increase. I've been watching the silage mounds from the hops start from bare land and grow to mountains, turning into compost. Which adds...
I'm ere at the Yakama Nation RV park for the duration of the holiday because everything else will be filled up, It is one of my favorite places. Picking hops and apples has just begun, with mint ready to go. Corn and tomatoes are in huge abundance. I saw folk harvesting tobacco, something that's new to me in the valley. It smells good around here. Weather is warm and sunny, but today was kinda windy and stormy at times, which feels quite...
I'll sit out the holiday weekend in the Yakima Valley, enjoying the bounty of peaches, pears, corn, tomatoes, melons, and an infinite supply of other good just-picked foods. Not to mention wines and beers. It's a dramatic change of scenery, too, something I can use. From there my destination is the Reno Air Races. Now, I know nothing about the races, but it's been on my list of things to do for a long, long time. I do know that the culture of...
Steve and Sandy inherited a beach-side home on Whidbey Island, so they invited us over for a tour of the island today. They did a walk-on the ferry a while back and we hung out in the Port Townsend area. So, we did the walk-on the other direction. Being from Seattle, I'm quite familiar with Whidbey as access is good from there (relatively speaking), but since I've had my RV I haven't had the chance to see it much. So it was great to have a...
The family returned to Port Townsend, this time moteling rather than camping. I guess they like this area. And it's a lot of fun seeing them, especially the little ones. Maizie (age 5) is pretty good at taking care of herself, though quite imaginative being picky about food. The boys, both age 1, are either crawling or running in all directions with no regard to where they are going. Tough to keep up with them, and they are going all the...
120 Tons 1.2 billion dollars 365,000 customers Those are the numbers that seem to be the most basic of Washington State's analysis of the legal cannabis market. I've been interested in this business since encountering it in Northern California, and Initiative 502 in Washington set in motion a real analysis of this currently black market. Have you ever heard ever a news story that 500 pounds of marijuana has been captured by border patrol, worth...
I won a gift certificate for Port Townsend Brewery at the park's annual celebration, so I put it to case of 12 22's, their basic IPA which is most popular around here. I'll grab another case of the amber before I leave. To my friends in Nebraska: beer comes in varieties and flavors that astound the palate. Bud Light and Coors Light is not beer, though it does contain water and alcohol. Washington state government got out of the wine industry a...
Subsequent to passage of Initiative 502, the State Liquor Control Board is developing rules, regulations, and fees for the distribution of marijuana products. The idea is that de-prohibiting growing, selling, and using will eliminate the black market. Users will benefit with transparency, quality control, and public safety. In exchange, users will pay more in taxes to the state for legal weed than the illicit stuff. That's the idea. Washington...
Juan de Fuca was a Greek-born sailing pilot living in Venice but sailing out of Mexico for Spain who claimed all of the western North American continent as theirs. In those days you laid claim to whatever land you heard about, and then raced off to be the first to document what you claimed. Around 1586, an English pirate raided the ship Juan de Fuca was on, taking everything in it. de Fuca eventually ended up back in Venice to tell the story of...
Smitty's is a great alternative to the Escapee Park for if nothing else the change in scenery. So I'm back for about 9 days before heading to Yakima. I'm looking forward to moving again, the trees everywhere getting a little boring. Not to Burning Man this year, I've got another plan.