It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to post, mainly because we’ve been “off the grid” of wi-fi. From Sequoia national park to Redwoods to Olympic and Rainier, we’re trying to catch up on blogging the adventure. So here is a recap of  our time in California and Washington.

Here are some pic’s with comments of some of our adventures.

I have to say that thus far, Sequoia was the most disappointing national park we’ve visited, not because it wasn’t beautiful, but because of traffic congestion and the fact that, without buing a very detailed map of the trails, it is not particularly hiker-friendly. Construction work on the roads kept drivers waiting for up to an hour to pass to the next “attraction”, and to do a 6-mile hike and visit a lookout, it took us 7 hours. (the hhike only took 2 1/2 hours- and it was poorly marked). the sequoia trees were pretty amazing, though.

Next up was Redwoods N.P., where we camped on the Klamath River, mainly because I wanted to visit an old schoolmate that lived in Klamath. The campground was The Klamath River RV Park and campground was immaculate, and we got THE primo spot up front and centered on the river. Sweet! Even sweeter….there was a grey whale and her calf that had been hanging in the river for a couple of weeks, and they were right in front of our campground! there were 2 marine biologists keeping statistics, and i hope the whales have moved on back to open waters, but it was a treat to watch them so up-close and personal.

On the advise of a friend who had recently visited Redwoods, we spent a day exploring and hiking in the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, a predominately old-growth redwoods area. We walked through The Grove and were taken aback by the beauty of these old trees.

My meetup with “Bear”, an old Sewanee classmate, was fun and interesting. During school (a boarding high-school), he and I ran in completely different circles. I really didn’t know him personally at all, but as you know if you’ve followed my blog, i have decided to reconnect as often as the opportunity appears, and we’ve been facebook friends for about a year. he greeted us at our campground and the next day we were guests of his and his Mom at “the Trees of Mystery”, a cheesy, touristy, but enjoyable stop when visiting Klamath. They have a giant statue of Paul Bunyan and his bull, Babe, and I immediately struck a pose holding up Babe’s balls.

Bear and his family hosted us for a home-cooked dinner that evening- a huge treat since we’ve been camp-cooking for the past month!

Bright and early the next am, we were headed north for Olymipic N.P. where we camped at the Fort Worden State Park. Our plans to hike at a higher altitude were quashed due to road closures and snow cover, so we did a lower hike. the charming town of Port Townsendis still high on my “favorite” lists.

Mount Rainier  was next, and our campsite at Mounthaven Resort was tucked in between large old trees surrounded by ferns and a running stream. the campground owners were extremely helpful and friendly.

Good thing we were allowed to light campfires, because it was here that we ran out of propane, (for heating and eating) and it was COLD! So cold, in fact, that once again, snow prevented us from hiking some of the trails we were planning, so we switched up our trails and carried on. (still through snow, though).

Rainier pics are below. Check back for our update on sailing in the San Juan Islands.