Sep 5, 2011 - Back in the USA

After another good breakfast with the Beard family, we headed back to the U.S.A. When we returned, BART was waiting quietly. We turned everything back on and all seemed to be working properly. Dan got out and read the manuals for the power control circuitry. Unfortunately, turning off all of the power when we left erased the energy management computer's memory and destroyed any evidence of what might have caused the generator to start on its own. What is particularly ironic is that this happened the ONLY time that we have ever left BART...

Sep 2, 2011 - Anacortes, WA to Birch Bay, WA

Today we drove from Anacortes to Birch Bay, WA. It was a very short drive (only about an hour and a half). We're staying in Birch Bay because it is only a few miles from the Canadian border, and we are going to leave BART at the campground and drive the car to Canada to visit with friends for a couple nights. Nothing much to report on this short drive today.

Aug 18, 2011 - Birch Bay, WA Temp 75

We made the short trip off Whidbey Island and up Interstate 5 to Blaine (just short of the Canadian border). The RV park was a disaster. It was packed and even though we had reservations, we were told to find our own site. Using the car, we cruised the park - 272 sites on numerous lanes. It was packed. One camper was packing up, so we stopped to take their place. Sorry - it was already claimed by the camper next door and their site was too small for a 40 footer. We came across an open site and pulled in to claim it. Sorry - it had a note...

Jul 24, 2011 - Day 54 - Company for Lunch

Great day! Put the mayonnaise on the potatoes, celery and onions that had been soaking in garlic-basil grape-seed oil since Friday and the potato salad was ready. Donna and Rico arrived about 1pm on their beautiful Harley-Davidson Motorcycle. They had a nice cool ride up to Birch Bay. We chatted and visited and talked about their vacation to Jamaica to celebrate their anniversary and our trip to Costa Rica. Then we barbecued hamburgers and enjoyed a relaxed meal. After lunch we walked down to the beach. The weather was beautiful, you could...

Jul 16, 2011 - Day 46 - Same rain

Rain yesterday and today, sitting around reading and playing indoors. Hopefully it will improve some. Ventured out between rain storms. Went to Lynden to the Sprint store and had my phone reset and upgraded, hopefully it will help the issues I have had. We then went back to the mall in Bellingham, to get a new battery for Jay's watch. As you can imagine, it was jammed with people avoiding the rain. Then we went to Ferndale, WA and had dinner at a cute little Mexican restaurant. Wondered if we had made the right choice when we saw blowup...

Jul 14, 2011 - Day 44 - Happy Anniversary to US

Today is our anniversary. We were married 39 years ago - July 14, 1972. We had a quiet rainy morning. Hung out at the RV and in the afternoon we headed down to Bellingham, WA to a mall. Big mall we walked it looking for a place to replace Jay's battery in his watch. Finally found a store and the repairman was not in today. Oh, well we will have to go back another day. Then we stopped at a local restaurant for Italian food to celebrate our day and then headed home to sort through the mail that arrived today from our forwarding service....

Jul 12, 2011 - Day 42 - Hanging out at Lighthouse by the Bay

The weatherman said that it would rain today and for the next 3 days. Still waiting. But, we needed a day to lay low, can't be on the go every day. Jay has explored the area on his bike twice today and has been reading a mystery on our new Kindle. I LOVE the Kindle! I am reading Michael Waltrip's new book and Jay is reading a new novel by Nick Russell "Big Lake". I have "Bossy Pants" by Tina Fey waiting for me to read. So I sorted and organized all the tourist information we have collected into three groups - California, Oregon and...

Jul 10, 2011 - Day 40 - Seattle to Birch Bay

Left the Seattle/Tacoma KOA about 10 am this morning. We drove 6 miles to the Museum of Flight. This is a Boeing Museum. The museum has war planes, hands on displays and unique cars like the Gossamer Albatross II - a human powered plane - WHAT are they crazy??? "The aircraft is designed to fly long distances with a human as the only power source". A constantly peddling pilot (Bryan Allen) crossed the English Channel (22.25 miles) in 2 hours and 49 minutes on June 12, 1979. There was the flying car, now how much fun would that be? Lots of...

Jun 29, 2011 - In the Far NW Corner of the US

Birch Bay Thousand Trails RV Park June 29, Noon PDT Birch Bay WA Hi from Birch Bay WA where I’m spending the two weeks surrounding the 4th of July. The weather here has been showery but is supposed to turn sunny on Friday and stay sunny through Wednesday with highs in the 70’s and lows in the 50’s. I arrived here on Monday after a 239 mile drive up I-5 with two Rest Stops along the way. Unlike California, where 80% of the Rest Stops are closed, Washington and Oregon have kept all their Rest Stops open. Rascal loves his walks in the Pet...

Jul 15, 2010 - Birch Bay Washington

We are relaxing at Birch Bay for 2 weeks. Have some stuff to do on the RV. Nice park, heated pool, big sites, mobile broadband and cell phones work here. Went to a really nice seafood restaurant the other night. We packed a picnic lunch and took the scenic drive up to Mt Baker. Snow still on the mountains. In fact at picture lake, I was walking in snow with sandals. 70 degrees and snow still on the ground. Road to Artist Point closed. We have fallen in love with a little Dutch town called Lynden. We went to their Raspberry Festival the...

May 15, 2010 - Our trip is over and the work has begun

We arrived in Bellingham last week and stayed at daughter Tinas for a couple of days before driving out to Birch Bay and the end of our travels for this year. It was great to see the girls(Angela, Rebecca and Hannah) and of course Tina and Rob. We went on a field trip with the girls to the annual Civil War presentation. These volunteers do a great job teaching the kids about the Civil War. Hannah did not like the loud booms but other than that they had a great time. We headed out to our parking spot off and on for the summer at Birch Bay....

Sep 7, 2009 - Birch Bay & Environs

Birch Bay, WA Sept. 1-5, 2009 Our good friends Tom & Mary Seibt scheduled a time-share condo in Birch Bay during this week. I worked with Tom back at Kaiser. I’ve known him since he was an instructor in my masters in marriage and family counseling program 1980-1982. I drove the motor home up to Birch Bay. Mary Anne had a book club meeting a couple of nights later. She stayed in Panorama until after that event and drove up on Thursday morning, bringing Nick the Schnauzer with her. Mt. Baker After I got into the trailer park behind the...