Makah Tribal Salmon Bake, Neah Bay Village

Look at all the delicious salmon baking around the perimeter of this large fire. A line of about 75 people waiting for $10 salmon dinners continued all afternoon, never dwindling to less than 50 people when we left at 3:00 pm.

They never ran out of salmon, they just couldn't cook it fast enough.

Makah village elders chanted and played their percussion instruments for the traditional Makah dancers.

This is the Dance of the Geese.

Many of the tribal dances imitate animal behavior such as a seagull walking on a floating log, or a sandpiper feeding on the shore.

A family get together along the waterfront street. Many of the tribes people live in other parts of the country but return here to visit family and participate in the 3 days' festivities.

Beautiful handmade wooden canoes covered Neah Bay Beach, all polished and ready for traditional Makah canoe races in just a few minutes.

The drum beats continued throughout all the canoe races, adding to the ambiance of this authentic Native American experience.

The start of the Men's Singles Race. A shot fired for the start of the race and a shot fired for first, second and third place winners as well.

A couple womens' singles racers; neck and neck near the finish line.

A mens singles contender.

What tree is this? I think its a non-native ornamental as I only see them one at a time, but they are so unique. This is a small one but I've seen them at about 30 feet high.

Cape Flattery

Sea Stacks along The Straits of Juan De Fuca, not far from Cape Flattery.

These signs are everywhere. With what's happening on the east coast presently, we are taking special notice of them.

To get to Cape Flattery it is necessary to enter the Lands of The Makah Nation. A permit is required for a reasonable fee of $10; it's good for a year.

The deeply forested, 3/4 mile trail out to the Cape does not feel like a trail that will lead to the sea.

Once you get there it will take your breath away.

We weren't able to see Tatoosh Island and the lighthouse. No one else has seen it either for 3 weeks, thanks to the thick fog you can see here just off shore.

Large caves below us where the waves crash and can shake the earth under your feet.

There are so many lumber trucks on the roads here it's amazing. We usually hear at least six rumble by and wake us up every morning before sunrise. 'thought this sign was interesting.

Look at these Pacific Oysters. I could only fit eleven of them on the grill. Everything is large out here: The big sky in Montana, the Rockies, the Douglas Fir and Red Cedars, the Elk and Buffalo, The Pacific and a whole lot more. Gotta love it!

Yet Another Big Problem

With some degree of reluctance, we attached the new tow bar and have driven with it for more than a 100 miles. So far so good!

The shiny new tow bar; steel, not aluminum, rated 6500 lbs. towing a 3300 lb. automobile. The joints on this are so stiff it is hard to hook up, but it feels secure!

Though this problem is now behind us, no pun intended, a new issue showed up after we arrived in Clallam Bay. There was a bit of water on the floor in front of the refrigerator, which we've seen before and attributed to excess condensation. After cleaning it up, this time however a puddle reappeared a few minutes later, and was larger as well. Again we cleaned it up only to find more water flowing out of both sides of the refrigerator cabinet. There was so much water that it was actually flowing under the slide room to the outdoors onto the front tire. I shut our water supply off to see if it would stop and sure enough the flow stopped. Thinking it must be the ice maker line I began to trace the flexible water line from the refrigerator back to where ever it starts out. After removing a wood panel next to refrigerator I was surprised to find that the source of the leak was in fact an 1 1/2" waste line from the kitchen sink. A fitting had broken right where the flexing occurs as the slide room moves in and out for its 18" of travel. A lot of the woodwork is soaked and the moisture has tripped the GFCI for the bath and kitchen. Hopefully it will dry out without any delamination or warping. However, in this climate things like your bath towel never seem to dry out. As I finish this blog the fog is rolling in from off shore and we may not have sunshine even though there are no clouds whatsoever.

While it's nice to live in a big diesel pusher with four slide rooms, I've always felt having a kitchen in a slide room is not a good idea. Every time this slide room is cycled in and out it is flexing three water lines, a waste line, a gas line, lots of wires and the ducts for the front furnace as well. I wonder if the extra 20 sq. feet of space is worth the potential problems? Anyway, the good news is that we can still use all the other plumbing fixtures and this won't be expensive to repair. Clallam Bay, a small fishing village, doesn't even have a grocery store so a plumbing store is no where near here and this will have to wait.

Luckily, our coach is equipped with a rare ,optional summer kitchen, which slides out one of the side doors. Looks like we'll be washing our dishes outside for awhile.

Speaking of food, check out this Sockeye Salmon I bought here in town for $4 a pound. Once I filleted it, it yielded 4 servings for the two of us for $13. Boy, was it delicious too, nothing like super fresh Salmon! It was such a deep orange color that Martha couldn't believe it when she saw the fillets, and no color added like the damn grocery stores.

Hurricane Ridge

Today we welcome new follower, bargirl2381. Thanks for joining our blog and we hope you enjoy our travels.

The 3.2 mile, 700' vertical, Hurricane Ridge Trail, is something we wanted to do before leaving the Port Angles area.

We left sunny Dungeness Spit only to drive into dense fog for most of the 18 mile climb to the Visitor's Center and trail head.

Fog, mixed with light rain, made us doubtful this was the right day for a trail hike.

The fog seemed to be following us up the mountain as we started the hike to the ridge.

Before long we hiked above the fog and were able look back at the blanket that lay below us now.

The views along the way were nothing less than spectacular.

At the ridge top, while eating our lunch and enjoying the views, this little deer wandered up behind us just 10' feet away.

Lupines, Paintbrush and Glacier Lilies were just a few of the flowers we found along the way. Martha found herself singing; "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music".

We've also seen a number of eagles here in Washington, but they are usually far away as this one was.

Port Townsend Ferry Crossing

This morning it was time to leave Oak Harbor and head for The Olympic Peninsula. We will dearly miss Oak Harbor but new scenery is calling to us and it is time to meet our Port Townsend Ferry Reservation and start to move south.

We were the biggest rig in the lower belly of the floating beast. The lighter vehicles are loaded near the outside of the vessel. This was a fun trip and saved lots of $$$. It was $58.50 for both vehicles and us. Diesel fuel alone would have cost about $100 to go via the roadways, not to mention the time and inconvenience.

To save on the fair we loaded our two vehicles separately. Here, our Jetta (with the new bra!!), will be the first to unload. We're also not all that anxious to try the new tow bar, LOL.

Tonight's camp; Dungeness Spit.

San Juan Islands

Mount Baker as seen from the ferry. The ferry turned out to be a great low-cost way to take a tour through the San Juan Islands, car included!

After boarding the ferry in Anacortes, an hour+ later, we arrived at Friday Harbor.

The Lime Kiln Lighthouse at Lime Kiln Point, AKA: Whale Watch Park.

We were doubtful that we'd actually see whales here, but our patience was rewarded with this siting. Not the best photo, but bear in mind we are at least 500 yds away, on shore, waiting for these Orcas to surface.

This harbor seal was basking in the warm afternoon sun, but nobody but nobody was going to bother him. Kayaks paddled by and onlookers stared, but he hardly moved at all.

The lighthouse at Cattle Point.

One of the the beautiful buildings in Roche Harbor near the marina.

Dumping your holding tanks on a boat is not quite the same as an RV.

Wonderful Whidbey Island

Today we welcome new follower, Linda, who joined us a few days ago. Welcome aboard Linda, we appreciate your support.

What is this? While looking around under the Coupeville Pier at low tide we discovered these colorful starfish that cling to nearly every piling just below the low tide line. Look at the purple one, how cool is that!!

We've visited a number of beaches on Whidbey Island and have yet to find one that is not covered with driftwood. Where does all this wood come from; some pieces are huge logs and large stumps?

We found a place where we could pick our own raspberries and got carried away. 6 lbs. didn't seem like a lot until we got home to the RV. We managed to get most into the freezer.

Until today we never knew how artichokes grew; it seems gardening is easy here on the island. Every where we go gardens flourish. It must be the mild temps and rainfall.


The Maiden of Deception Pass; it took one heck of a tree to create this carving!

Fog at Deception Pass.

Here at the Windjammer City Park next to the RV park was the annual car show. There were a lot of cars but the import category was very small. I always loved the original Mini Cooper.

A 10" gun at the shore battery at Fort Casey State Park. What as waste of tax dollars this was; as if any invading enemy would get this far into Puget Bay to attack the USA, LOL. I guess it was because there were no aircraft at the time this was built; around 1900.