The Strait

Or how plan A became plan B and then plan A again

My thought was to hit one more hot spring before the van with a name has to head back to eastern Washington. And that was a good idea until the weather changed from the constant rain to up to 8 inches of wet slushy snow at the hot spring, I wanted to visit Sol Duc in Olympic National Park.

My trajectory needed a change in course, and so I decided to head inland and see what the weather would do.

On this move inland I discovered that I was in an extreme area of unusual place names. I was headed to Dosewallips State park and wondered if the price of admission would be to be walloped twice. Then there was Moclips. That name made me wonder if I could get my hair trimmed up there.

But the best name I think by far was at the junction of the road from Moclips  and highway 101, and that burgs name is Humptulips.

Interesting Town Name

I had no idea what the name could mean, so a googling was required, and I discovered that the name Humptulips is from a ancient  language and the word means “It’s a bad place to pole your boat because of all the snags in the river there”

Dosewallips is named after a chief that was transformed into a mountain at the head of the river that the park is bordered by.

Googling Moclips produced several meanings, but the most accepted one is “People of the turbulent water”, so a shampoo and trim is out of the question.

Bigfoot Says Surfs Up

This part of coastal Washington is Big Foot country so it was no surprise to see Big Foot ready to hit the surf. It was surprising to see that surfing here is very popular, as almost every beach I have stopped at has had surfers riding the waves.

Now the ride from the coast to Dosewallips took me right along Hood Canal. I always thought Hood Canal was in Oregon, but no there it was on my starboard side.

The scenery along the canal is spectacular there are several public camps and beaches along the way, and this being the “shoulder season” I pretty much had the place to myself.

After two days at the wallips the weather had given up on snow and actually turned quite nice. My original plan was to go to Cape Flattery and Neah Bay. Sol Duc was plan B. when I checked the campground the site showed 16 first come first serve sites available, so I decided to make the hot spring plan A and Neah Bay plan B

Arriving at the hot springs the camp host told me there were no sites available. I thought that was strange, but my plans are flexible and this was the weekend, at a popular place.

No worries plan B became plan A again, and I headed off to Neah Bay.

Now highway 112 starts of nice enough but the closer you get to Neah Bay the road becomes narrower, and curvier  and on the way out I was thinking that this road was built before straight aways were invented, and all these road builders knew how to do was build unbanked curves.  The road also has some incredible frost heaves or just dips that tossed the van around  while cruising at the breakneck speed of 15 mph. The tossing  caused all kinds of things to move from their assigned position. I still haven’t found my dashboard Moai.

I Fear My Dashbord Moai Has Gone Home To Isla de Pascua

The ride on the state ferry Columbia on the Strait  Of Jaun de Fuca was a lot smoother than the road along the shore of the Strat but wow what this is  a fantastic place to be.

The town sits right on the Strait. You couldn’t find a more picturesque  spot anywhere

Neah Bay In The Morning

There were a couple of options for camping and the in town RV park “The Village” looked like it was trying to imitate the ghetto park I stayed at in Vancouver. The other option was Hobuck Beach Resort. It was on the road out to Cape Flattery so I thought I would give it a look. It was nice enough so I settled in. Most of the other campers here appear to be surfers who all have black wetsuits and resemble seals walking around camp.

The  Hobuck Beach Resort Is Nice Enough

There Was Never A Line At The Camp Showers

The only way into or out of Neah Bay is the Pacific Ocean,  the Coast Guard airstrip and state highway 112. In spite of the only access being public, you still have to purchase a pass because this is a reservation and you ain’t in the tribe.  The pass and a dry camp site was only $50.00 so It was worth it.

The drive back out seemed quicker I guess you only get on the treadmill part on the west bound trac.

The Strait Of Jaun de Fuca Looking East

 

 

  

Changes In Elevation

 It was just the other day that I was basking in the sun high up at  7800. Foot in Colorado’s  San Juan Mountains, and today my altimeter shows I am high above the Pacific Ocean at 84 feet.

Yaquina Head Light

The Oregon coast truly has some spectacular scenery, and just when you thought you had seen it all you discover something new, or did you just forget about previously visiting here

There are some pretty fantastic tide pools here, but the tide is high and the ocean is way down the steep cliff. The tide pool creatures will have to wait for another day for their photo shoot.

 Underwater Tide Pools At Cobble Beach 

Another new to me bird. Brewers Blackbird. Pretty cool looking fellow.

Brewers Blackbird

I mananged to get a decent shot of this fellow inspite of him trying to exit the frame. 

Of course I am always up for some train spotting, and what’s not to like about seeing a 1951 EMD F7 still operating on the Oregon coast for the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad

Oregon Coast Scenic RR F7

The scenic train runs from Garibaldi to Rockaway beach. I saw it loading passangers in Garibaldi and while having lunch I  caught it pulling into the station in Rockaway.

There are plenty of state parks with camping on the Oregon coast, and the two I stayed at South Beach, and Nehalem Bay have over 100 sites each, both have new or remodeled showers, and are pretty reasonable at around $55.00 for water and electric hook ups and a central drain for your waste tanks. Plus, you can actually walk to the beach, or just around the camp.

Hiking To The Beach

I’m detouring into Vancouver Washington to have breakfast with Maya Huckleberry. But I am not going through Portland I’m going on the old winding coastal roads highways 53 and 26.  I cruise through the towns of Nehalem, Elsie, Jewell, and Mist before returning to civilization in the thriving town of Clatskanie, where I find a coffee shop and stop for substance. Along the way I saw lots of cows, and a large herd of Elk.

I Googled It. This Is A Cow Not A Elk

My urban RV park in Vancouver was a ghetto, and I bugged out after only one night. They probably  will never refund my money but I gave them a scathing review on Google and Trip Adviser. Win some loose some but maybe they will loose some business for being unattentive ghost operators.

 

 

Paying The Light Bill

 

The van with a name is getting up in years. Her odometer says she is up in the 74k range. She still runs like a champ, but with that mileage comes certain maintenance  responsibilities.

The motor company had set maintenance  points for your motorbike, where if you wanted to keep your warranty active you paid a couple of thousand dollars so some tech who  supposedly tightened every bolt on your motorbike, and greased the bushings on your fog lights.  I would have paid a extra1k just to see every bolt get tightened.

The van needed brakes, so I knew it was going to be a big job. I called the ford dealer in Pocatello  and what a surprise they could get me in on Friday, contingent on if the van with a name would fit in the shop door. It did.

Service Time

Jade, the service writer, met me at the door. He knew it was a big job too. They got the van inside and started the inspection. The estimate came down. .45 under 3k. I said I’m in.   That’s when the drama started. Jade said there are special bolts that Ford says have to be replaced  when they lift up the petticoats of the van with a name, and they had none.

Special Bolts 

They could be ordered. Be in by Wednesday or Thursday. That was okay by me if I could live in the van with a name in a corner  of their shop. That was not what they wanted to hear, and magically the NAPA truck showed up in about a hour with all the parts.

The van got new brakes, new rotors and new special bolts, and she stops on a dime and gives nine cents change. Courtesy Ford got their light bill for the week paid by me, and all the mechanics loved the van and loved working on it. There were at least three of them on it at any given time.

It was late getting out of Ford, so I elected to spend another night in Pocatello and since I had credits with KOA I thought I would give them another chance. I had hoped that the lady who yelled at me last time I was there and wouldn’t refund my money but let me park by the building during the great Pocatello blizzard of a couple of years ago.  would be there again, but she wasn’t. I think it was her husband that checked me in and he was nice as could be and even answered the phone when I called after a few hours,  to ask if it was normal for the caravan next to me to leave their dog tied out, without any water.

In the morning, I was glad to get out of Pocatello. I wasn’t glad that I would have to drive Interstate 86. My schedule was pretty open so when I got to Twin Falls, I googled camping near me and discovered a free RV camp in the Snake River Canyons Park.

Ricketts RV camp was great. Picnic tables, outhouses, and fire rings at every level site. My fire ring even came with dry firewood , and if I used it, I might have been able to ignite the mountains of dry tumbleweeds that were piled along the fence line.

Plenty Of Tinder Dry Tumbleweeds

The campground has parking for horse trailers, and there are miles of trails for off road vehicles, horses, and dirt bikes. Several dirt bikes with suited up riders were doing stunts on some of the trails. The people who moved in across from me had a  four wheeler, and all their underage children were riding around with no protection at all, in spite of the law requiring hemits for riders under 18. You think you would want to protect your children.

It felt good to get off the interstate and cross into Oregon. This is almost home turf. One night in Burns at a familiar  RV park and it was on westbound on the Santiam highway past Brothers, and past Sisters to the Metolius river where I discovered the perfect RV camp. Camp Sherman.

Camp Sherman

Camp Sherman sits adjacent to the river, the Ponderosa Pines were fragrant, the weather great. I even  spotted a new bird, a White Headed woodpecker, and would have stayed more than one night but my phone signal  was poor, and I had a zoom meeting coming up. Will be going back their next time.

Massive Ponderosa Pine

Camp Sherman Store

Morning On The Metolius

 

 

 

Union Pacific Big Boy 4014

 

Randomly discovering hot springs is a great way to spend the dregs of a Alaskan winter, and has been my primary focus of this trip, but when I learned that the Union Pacific massive steam locomotive Big Boy 4014 was going on a coast to coast tour, I decided that I had to see the thing.

 Back in the 1940’s Union Pacific had the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) build 25 of these monsters, and of those 25 only 8 survive, and 4014 is the only one in operating condition having been rescued from  50 years of static display at the rail giants train museum in Pomona California.

The 2026 tour starts and ends at the railroads steam headquarters in Cheynne, so that is where I headed.

Where Big Boy 4014 Sleeps

The roundhouse is a impressive structure of the railyard here. You could see the passenger coaches staged for the run starting tomorrow, but 4014 was hidden away deep within the railyard where mere civilians are not permitted.

Cheyenne Depot

With the big rail adventure not starting until tomorrow I opted to travel to Curt Gowdy State Park, that is strategically  located ½ way between Cheynne and 4014’s first stop in Laramie.

Yes, the park is named after Curt Gowdy, the sportscaster. Curt was born in Green River and raised in Cheyenne. The park sits above a reservoir where you can fish and boat, but not swim.

You Know You Have Arrived

It was off season in the park, so there was no water in the campground,  but my site had electricity, and view of the lake.

Granite Spring Reservoir 

Plenty of little Uinta ground squirrels were busy ducking into holes and running across the road to see what the other squirrels were doing, you could say the park offered entertainment and I spotted a Clark’s Nutcracker to add to my bird list. I didn’t get a good photo of him though.

Uinta Ground Squirrel

The only negative thing I can think of about the park is Curt must not have liked camping on level ground, because I don’t think there is a level spot in the park, and my spot took all my blocks to get level.

In the morning, it was an easy run to Laramie, on a quiet two lane highway. The vans path of the beam brought me right to the Union Pacific depot, and I was early enough to grab a primo parking spot steps away from the depot.

There are the usual things to see at the depot, the static display of old trains, and the museum with all the railroad artifacts was open early so you could take a look.

Railroad Semaphore

High above the railyard is a bridge and pathway that connects to another part of town, but on this morning  myself along with lots of other people decided that the bridge would be a excellent place to watch 4014

It Was Determined This Freight Is On Track 3

Now up on the bridge there was plenty of speculation as to what track Big Boy would arrive on. There could have even been betting.

All along I thought that Big Boy would be on the track closest to the station, and when I asked the fellow standing near me, who was a wealth of railroad information, he agreed and stated that Big Boy would come in on “Track 1” that they would switch it to that track just to the east of us where we couldn’t see all that well.

The entire wait for Big Boy had a carnival feel to it or it might have been a screen shot from the past when the passenger trains would stop at the depot , and the entire town would turn out to see who was arriving. Either way there must have been at least 1000 humans waiting.  Children were swinging on the swings. People were lined up about 6 deep near the depot, and tikes were scaling the fence to get a good look.

Just like at a rock concert Union Pacific provided a opening act, as a massive, covered hopper freight  train pulled by a 4000 hp GE (same people that make my toaster, and washer) was switched on to track one and came at the crowd sounding its horn and ringing its bell.

Opening Act Switched On To Track 1

Now since this freight was on track 1 it was going to pass just a few feet under us, and the driver was having a fun time sounding his horn, and as the massive locomotive was directly under, he gave a blast of that horn that made everyone on the bridge jump, a bit.

The lady standing next to me said that the noise scared her dog. I told her the noise scared me.

It wasn’t long until off in the distance you could see the single headlight of 4014 moving over to track 1. As it drew closer you could hear the unmistakable sound of a steam whistle.

As it approached the depot it started blowing steam, and everyone that was on or near the platform got a steam bath.

4014 Has Arrived

After the train stopped, I shuffled off the bridge and wandered over to the six deep crowd at the depot.

At least six crew were at the locomotives wheels oiling everything that they  could reach

Oiling Up The Locomotive

I never got the photo I wanted of Big Boy but it was fun to be near a massive steam locomotive and feel the heat coming off of it and wonder what noise it was going to make next.