Summer Trip 2012

Another trek in the trusty Vanagon. Returned to a favorite campground in Cloverdale, Sonoma County, and other fabulous sites. Many fun adventures. Here are some highlights:

 A big bass caught by Mitchell, it's catch & release and the fish swam away happily. He was about 14 inches or so.

West Coast Road Trip Summer 2011

Our second major road trip in our Vanagon. Two weeks. California, Oregon, Washington... northern most point was San Juan Island. 

Wildlife seen: Bald Eagle, river otters (in Oregon), fox, spotted towhee (look it up:), deer, yellow billed magpie,

Here's our photo journal: 

On the 5

 Michael at the "helm" on Shasta Lake

 The only time our van misbehaved. After filling up at the gas station no start. Battery fully charged. Had to unload (engine is under the cargo area) set up Mitchell under a tree with Legos. Luckily I could get onto www.thesamba.com on my phone and found the solution, we should have known you just need to tap on the solenoid while turning the key. We were quickly on our way.

 Seattle

 County Park on San Juan Island, WA

 

The sculpture garden at Roche Harbor, San Juan Island

 

 

 Portrait of Mom, by Mitchell.

 Roche Harbor, Giant Poppies.

 Where we got oysters

 weighing oysters

The guys and their vans. They insisted that 6 people needed to ride in two vans to create a "caraVAN". 

 American Camp, San Juan Island

 

Yep that's a bald eagle. And Yep that is Mitchell. 

 Island Fox, San Juan Island. These poor foxes are having trouble finding enough food. 1. The government is "gassing" the wild rabbits in an attempt to eliminate them from the island as they are not native and 2. tourists feed the foxes making them dependent then winter comes tourists leave and there's no easy food. They literally lie along the roads in this area hoping for a scrap of food. We saw two BIG adults (one maybe 5 ft long tip to tip) and three babies laying out in front of their den. So cute. So hard not to feed.

 The Ferry

 Chowder on the Ferry

 Van on the Ferry

At the EMP in Seattle

 The Columbia river

 For my friends who are Twilight fans.

 Point Disappointment, WA

 An old "battery' at the Point.

 Campsite in Oregon

 Playing at driftwood beach, OR

 Final camping spot in Remote, OR

 Final camping dinner

 Mount Shasta

Playing in the River in Sacramento before our long ride home. 

Here are some videos. 

The first one is seesaw at Point Disappointment, WA

Second one is playing in the grass on San Juan Island, WA

Third one is playing in the giant fountain in Seattle, WA

The last one is swinging over the river in Sacramento. He did eventually drop in the water.