National Monuments are something of significant interest worthy to be temporarily protected by the President of the US. This one is a series of canyons just across the river from the town. It's main feature is a road with astounding views. Nice place for the locals, but it's not a national attraction. I wondered about the greenhouses next to me, and it appears they are growing cannabis. The address has a license for a marijuana store called the...
Here are my observations as I traveled though legal states. I didn't study the situation too closely, these are just general observations. Yakima County and the City of Yakima spend way too much time and money fighting the inevitable and they've ended up with basically what they should have done 6 years ago. What I saw was that stores there were lax on ID checking, making them an ideal sting target by the Cannabis Board. Bend, Oregon is an...
I'm not where I planned to be, the idea was to cross the Rockies on I-70, get through Denver and then decide what the next move is. From Baker I ended up in Salina, UT at the wrong rv park. But I did make it to Green River, UT and picked up some melons. I also had a tire swapped with my spare because the it was wearing out quickly. This needs serious mechanical work which I need to get done before continuing further. Grand Junction is the...
A lot of my readers will know the Border Inn near Baker, on the NV/UT border. It's a shitty little gas/motel/store/rv park in a crappy-looking desert. But it's a good launch spot to go half way across Utah tomorrow, a very uninteresting drive. The drives have been long through the deserts, but the weather has been excellent (freezing at 6000' this morning) and no dust. Clear and sunny. Very light traffic. The truck is running well. Going over...
Winnemucca, NV is always a stop for me, whether for a night or for a week. One night this time. The SE Oregon deserts are desolate and isolated, but the road is a great one for eating up miles with the least effort. Save the road itself, there are few signs in places that humans even exist. Plan your fuel stops carefully if you're looking at this route. Speaking of fuel, I got 8 mpg with my old truck pulling under typical conditions. It's...
I haven't had a "down" day since I left PT last week, so I'm in Malheur for two nights, and doing nothing of any value. I've been visiting this place for about 30 years, mainly for it's birding. I watched as a gravel corner at an intersection (rare thing around here) grew into a corner store, gas pumps, restaurant/bar, and then an RV park. Eleven years ago I camped at the south end of the refuge (40 miles away), and promised myself the next time...
This is an interesting town. It's sprawley, and navigation is confusing. They seem to love roundabouts which are everywhere, but traffic isn't bad at all. Once a huge lumber town, it's now tourism, retirement, commercial center for the region, and packed with breweries and brewpubs. I went to the The Old Mill District hoping for some historical sights and instead it's a monstrous shopping mall. The idea was to do some shopping here to avoid...
I've not spent any time in Bend, and I needed to do some shopping for my truck, so it's Bend for a few days. I'm impressed at first look, so am looking forward to exploring a bit.
As usual, it's tough leaving Yakima, and saying goodbye to a lot of friends. I dropped by the Glenn Cassidy Golf Tournament for a bit, but the biggest thing was my 50th high school reunion. I was apprehensive about doing that, but it worked out well. Two evenings of chatting with best friends and others that I haven't seen in 50 years. An amazing experience. But I've got to get moving again, so it's off to Bend, OR tomorrow morning for a few...
Tomorrow I'll head to Yakima, a much-anticipated change of scenery. Not that the scenery around here is bad, but one can get too much of a good thing. But I won't be able to see the solution of a problem that cropped up in town this summer. Both the state and the city resurfaced their streets and highways this summer. State 20 takes a hard right into the ferry terminal, then PT's main street continues straight. Both entities shared the...
I'll be heading out for the winter next week, so I took a browse through downtown today, checking out the shops that likely won't be there next year. It's Wooden Boat Festival this weekend, the biggest of the many summer celebrations Port Townsend has. The weather looks a bit iffy, but I'll try to get down there in between drizzle spells. My first stop will be Yakima to see friends, hang out at my brother's golf tournament, and attend my 50th...
The number of states, counties, and cities considering some limits on marijuana prohibition this season is quite remarkable. And there has never been such a rush by candidates to jump on the bandwagon declaring their support, although some of the politicians might be trying to fool you. Sometimes things go wrong, like these examples. I've written about Calaveras County (CA) before. An economically-distressed county issued licenses, collected...