Olympic Peninsula and Yakima

We drove up to the Olympic Peninsula from Portland and camped on a misty beach. It was very grey and drizzled the whole time. The beach had huge wood chunks that looked like gigantic bones. We ate some really tasty smoked salmon and drove on to Yakima where we camped. Today we drive through Washington States wine country.

Willamette Valley and Portland

We started our day with some laundry at the nice hotwire hotel. Then we made our way up the Willamette Valley and did some wine tasting. Amazing pinots and gorgeous views all day. We then made our way to Portland where we are staying with my good friend Jamin. We had great food and company and now we are off to Washington and the Olympic National Park. I am posting some pics of Jamins chickens.

Northern California and the Oregon coast

We made our way up the coast and saw some huge redwoods. We stopped at a winery in Humboldt county and tasted some amazing wine. Then we headed up the coast and ended up camping in a coastal campground in Oregon. Today we drove on and tasted some amazing wines in the Willamette Valley. Oregon wine is excellent. We are staying in a groovy hotel via hotwire tonight and seeing my friend Jamin tomorrow in portland. I am posting some pics of the big trees, the beach and some vineyards.

Oakland and the California Coast

We Made it to Oakland Sat morning and met up with my old friend Kathy. We got to see her new place and meet the very kind folks that she lives with. Went to an amazing farmers market and chatted with the family she lives with . Such a cool town with great food everywhere. we left and headed up Highway 1 on the coast. Very windy roads for a very long way. Amazing views thw whole time. We camped on the beach near Westport. It was misty and windy. We had some fantastic wine and slept to the sound of waves. Sorry no pics our camera battery died and we had no access to power till this morning when we had breakfast a a cool cafe in Humboldt county. we are headed Redwood National park.

Yosemite

We made it out of Mammoth lakes with a new power steering pump. We headed on to Yosemite. The road in is a 9945 foot mountain pass. It was beautiful and cool. We drove through and camped on the other side in the Stanislaus National Forest. We are heading to Oakland today to visit my grade school friend Kathy:) I am posting some pics of Yosemite.

Mamouth Lake

We left Inyo national forest and noticed a power steering fluid leak. We stopped in Mamouth lake and had it checked out - guess what....we need a new pump. (thanks death valley we are three for three.) We found a really nice guy who is going to fix it tomorrow and then we will head for Yosemite. Meanwhile we are going to check out mamouth lake which is a much nicer and cooler ( temp wise) than our last car fix it town.

Sierra Nevada Mountains

We escaped Ridgecrest Mon afternoon with new wheel bearings and a new alternator. We headed to the Inyo National Forest which is on the North side of Kings Canyon. This place is amazing. Some of the best hiking, scenery and camping of the trip so far. On Tues we went on a 10 mile hike in to the Sierras and it was so beautiful that we decided to do another 13 miler today. If you love to hike these mountains are the best. There is so much diversity in the terrain, rock formations, colors and plants. It is very different from the New hampshire mountains we usually hike. Oh yeah the huge drop offs were a little scary but hey what can you do?I am posting images from our hikes, campsites and some really amazing mountain flowers. The flowers are so delicate quiet and exquisite at the same time. I have never seen so many types.