Sunday,
June 18th 2017
Each time we leave a campground and hook the car up,
there are quite a few procedures to follow. With no exceptions. We attach the car to the hitch, the heavy-duty
safety chains are connected as are multiple cables. Norm and I add a rock shield to protect the
car as well.
When all is connected, and I have run the transmission
through its own very particular procedures, we test to make sure that the motorhome’s
break and signal lights are transmitted properly to the tow car.
Well, it has gone really well until today. Fortunately, as Norm was re-examining all the
connections, he noticed smoke pouring out of the plug connected to the RV! Had he not, who knows what would have caught
fire or at least melted it and the receiver to a black indistinguishable glob
equaling big expense and inconvenience.
It would be totally irresponsible to tow the car
without signal lights, not to say illegal, so I had to drive it myself,
following behind the RV. It took several
hours, and the rest stops were few and far between. Our two-way radio died this
morning, ( yes, I charged it ) so I couldn’t ask Norm to stop so I could
stretch, have lunch and pee. To make
matters worse, the GPS took us to the wrong place so the trip was killing me to
the point where I just had to go find a bathroom and to meet Norm at the
campground, and hoped he wouldn’t try parking by himself.
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|
Norm hooking up car to motor home. Safety chains, break-away wire, rock screen to protect paint and windshield on car. Then there is the cable so when the brakes are applied in RV, the car brakes as well ( and brake lights come on ) Then a cable that links the other lights as well. With practice only takes a few minutes. Today one of the cables started to catch on fire. Norm fortunately saw it ! |
Finding campgrounds in and around big cities is
tough. Seattle is no different. In fact,
we have friends with RV’s that wanted to see Seattle but even back in February
the few were filled. Having started
making reservations even sooner than they, we were able to insure our seeing Seattle’s
sights. None of the campgrounds’ reviews were anything but horrible, but we
chose the one that sounded best, and frankly, the only one to answer the darn
phone! I was a little nervous about this
one.
Tall Chief RV Park was certainly different from the
recent campgrounds we have been staying at.
Deep in the woods it felt more like a state park as we drove in. The young men at the entrance seemed very nice
as they gave us instructions to “go find a site”. Those four words instill terror to someone
with a very large RV. All campers want a
nice, level site. The bigger the better. Even those with tiny tents or people
camping out of the Volkswagen bug will take the best they have to offer. Who can blame them? But we made these reservations nearly 6
months ago to insure that we had one of the few spots we would fit in!
Norm and I drove around a couple of times looking for
an acceptable spot. We were going to be
there 4 nights and were already brain-fried and hungry, so we hoped for a relatively
easy set-up. In a perfect world, we try to avoid being near large groups because they
tend to party through the night. Or those with dogs. If they have an outdoor
dog pen, that usually guarantees said dog will bark at everything that walks
by. Multiple childs’ bikes or worse yet – basketballs beside the road that will
be sure to bounce off your rig, are indications that peace and quiet will be
hard to come by. It appeared that people are living here for the duration of
the summer, or perhaps their lives, by the look of it. State Parks have restrictions on how long you
can stay, typically a little less than a couple of weeks.
Jostling over
the ruts and bumps, we saw RV’s that looked like they had been sitting there
since their invention. Dirt and moss-covered
campers ceremoniously draped with filthy blue tarps gave us some pause, as did
the “junk yard” appearance around their rigs.
Oh, boy, this is different!
Finally finding a site that would be “good-enough” we
managed to back it in and set up with surprisingly little fuss. Since we were out in the middle of no-where
about 45 minutes west of Seattle, we spent the rest of the day figuring out
where we could get the cord fixed or replaced, and hoped there was not a short
in the wiring of either the RV or car; we then made a nice dinner.
Monday,
June 19th 2017
First thing in the
morning we tried calling several RV repair facilities to ask if they had what
we needed and the time to help us that day. It was vital that we get this fixed, and since
a part might have to be ordered, doing it today was important. After several calls and a lot of time on
hold, we found a company south of Seattle, that seemed to think they had what
we needed.
We jumped in the car,
fought the traffic and arrived in about an hour. It was advised we replace the whole cable and
ends and in about 45 minutes we were all set. Our wallet was painfully lighter (for some
reason this cable cost 2 ½ times the original ) but, if there are no wiring
issues in the vehicles, we will be good as new!
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| Snoqualimie Falls, in Snoqualimie, Washington |
Tuesday,
June 20th 2017
We were hoping, when
planning this trip, that we would spend a couple of days in and around Seattle
while here in Falls City. What we heard from many people was how horrible the
traffic was these days, and it would be a nightmare getting into the city.
So, with this in mind,
and the off and on drizzle combined with a rainy forecast, we decided to just
lay low for the day and be lazy. There
wasn’t anything nearby we knew of that was worth doing in the rain. Later in the day, when I was going to scream
from boredom and the proximity of my husband for the last 66 days, 8 hours and
7 minutes, I thought it be best for both of us if I went and got groceries on
my own.
I spent more than a
glorious hour meandering up and down each isle of this gigantic Fred Meyer
store. Who would have guessed this shopping gem was in what I assumed the
middle of nowhere? I longed for the organic and grass-fed meats I have never
seen before, beautifully displayed in cases like diamonds set on black
velvet. Unfortunately, I had to once
again consider what could be brought into Canada so I resisted the urge to buy
any of these unusual delicacies (for now).
Today we were to face the
traffic and head into Seattle – no matter what.
Luck was either with us, or everyone we spoke with never drove in
Boston! With me behind the wheel, even I
had nary a white-knuckle. Norman is however, a fabulous co-pilot, and great at
figuring out the GPS. Do you notice that, particularly in cities, the GPS will
say street names when signs read numbers and vice versa? Very confusing on your
own.
We had reservations for
the Underground Tour at 11AM, but got into town earlier in hopes to catch an earlier
tour since our “to do” list and walking distances were long.
Lady Luck continued to be
with us as we found a great ( and relatively cheap ) parking garage, and we
were able to join the 10AM tour!
Bill Speidel’s Underground
Tour was 75 minutes of enjoyment. Their
tour guides were a cross between actors and stand-up comics who delightfully
entertained while describing the history of Seattle’s underground city.
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| Bill Speidel's Underground tour was fantastic! So much fun and informative! |
As we walked through the
subterranean streets we saw storefronts and sidewalks long ago buried after they
were forced to raise the level of the streets by 10 feet because of constant
flooding. The multiple blunders of the
government were related tongue-in-cheek as we learned of the disastrous “modern”
sewer system, built on a mud flat that was below sea level at high tides. ( and
what happened daily as a result ) Why toilets were named “crappers”, and the history
of the extremely prosperous prostitution business of the time were
enthusiastically told. This tour, if you
are visiting Seattle, should not be missed!
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| This was a wooded sewer pipe used underground in Seattle. They tend to rot, was one of their many shortcomings. ( at least there was not lead in them ) |
From there we walked to
Pike’s Market on the waterfront. We have
been there before, but it is always fun to browse around. Usually. By the time we got there and perhaps
because cruise ships were in port, it was so unbelievably crowded that we had
lunch and soon left.
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| The famous Pike's Market public market in Seattle. |
Check out the famous "tossing of the fish" at Pike's Market
You always hear of the
constant rain in Seattle. Well, good ole’
Lady Luck gave us a day that could not possibly have been better! Blue skies and temperatures in the 60’s made
for perfect walking of which we did miles.
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| Part of the exhibit at Chihuly Gardens and Glass was an atrium. The beautiful blue sky and the Space Needle can be see through the art. Neat! |
We then walked to Chihuly Gardens and Glass
next to the Space Needle at Seattle Center.
Dale Chihuly is one of the most prolific blown-glass artists in the
world, and here we had an opportunity to see some of his best in a beautiful
setting. There is an audio tour app
available for your smart phone and the kind girl at the ticket counter gave us
the last two headphones since we didn’t have ours with us. Lucky again!
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| Dale Chihuly's exhibit called Persian Ceiling. He mounts larger pieces to a wall, then suspends it overhead, rests it on flat glass then lights it from above. As you enter the room you feel surrounded by shapes and colors. So cool. |
The blown glass art
pieces were utterly amazing, but not our taste.
It was more about the day than the art for us here. When we were done we took the monorail to get
closer to our car, found a little place along the way for dinner then drove
back to Fall City.
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| There could not have been a more perfect day! |
