Casinos and Volcanoes

Anacortes, WA to San Jose, CA                            February 7 to February 10

After a lot of debate, hand wringing, and weather watching, we decided to leave Anacortes on Sunday afternoon, February 7.  Weather through the southern OR and northern CA mountains looked good on Tuesday so that was our target.  We could have left Monday morning, but driving through Seattle in Abe is attention grabbing at best and Monday morning traffic would have added another layer of anxiety.  So, we were jacks-up about 1 pm Sunday afternoon, after a final Sunday morning service at Anacortes Lutheran Church.  As usual, it was hard to leave the friends we had once again become close to.  Before departing, though, we made reservations at Fidalgo Bay RV beginning 7/8/16 and leaving 9/2/16, so we will return to our “home port” and enjoy some summer.

We expected minimal traffic as we drove through Seattle two hours before the start of the Super Bowl, but of course it wasn’t quite that way.  On the plus side, the weather was gorgeous and we had fabulous views of Mount Rainier. 

We didn’t travel far…just south of Olympia to Centralia, WA, and a pretty little RV park there.  We parked, settled, and had the TV running by 10 minutes into the first quarter of the game.  Yay!  We liked this little RV park and would stay here again, to get cued up for a transit through Seattle.

Monday, February 8, was really the start of the adventure.  We have a new pickup and Jerry said he noticed the extra weight as we towed the truck behind Abe. We have a new tow system which made hooking up easier, but, as with any new equipment, we’ll keep an eye on it to see be sure it all works smoothly.  As you can see from the photo, taken at a rest stop along the way, we travelled in lovely warm sunshine!

Passing through Portland is always a little exciting, too, but today we took I-205 that passes on the east side of the city.  That was an easier, less busy route to take.  Once again we had lovely views of the local volcano…Mount Hood this time.  Monday night we stopped at Seven Feathers Casino in Canyonville, OR.  This RV park was rated highly by Good Sam’s and had a Tiffin rally here last year and it was very nice.  After relaxing in the sunshine, we walked over to the casino, and had dinner at their sports bag.  Bad idea!  The food was terrible.  And we lost $1 to the slots!

We were off again bright and early Tuesday to travel through the mountains.  A piece of cake!!  Although it was a little foggy, the roads were dry and the passes had not had any snow in quite some time.  Just the way we like it.  The photo is taken at the top of Siskiyou Summit looking into the foggy valley below. 

We were happy to see the water level in Shasta Lake had come up considerably since we drove through here in November.  The reservoir has a long way to go before anyone could say it’s full, but we saw lots of snow in the Cascades, so there’s hope!  We had wonderful views of Mount Shasta as we came down the last ridge and into Sacramento Valley.

Our Tuesday night stop was at Rolling Hills Casino in Corning, CA.  This one wasn’t quite as plush as the previous night, but at $28 we couldn’t complain.  We walked over to the casino here as well, but neither ate nor donated to the slots.  The weather was warm and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset, as we looked west over the golf course.  We spotted Mount Lassen but missed the photo…too dark!

In three days of travel we had seen five volcanoes, including Mount Baker near our starting point, and two casinos.  We've travelled this route a lot over the years, but the focus on casinos and volcanoes added a new spin to our trip.

Wednesday’s drive took us to Coyote Creek RV Park in Morgan Hill, CA, about 20 minutes from daughter Jill, son-in-law Bob and granddaughter Lauren’s house.  We’re taking dinner to them tonight…one of my crockpot surprise specialties!  Daughter Joy comes in Friday afternoon and we’ll have the weekend to take lots of photos and spend time together. 

As always, there’s more to come!