Sunsets on the Beach, Ferry Rides, and Steppin' Out of Our Routine...

Spent four days down at Deception Pass, in the Washington state park campground at Cranberry Lake...

*Bridge over Deception Pass*

Put the Raider on the ground and rode up to Anacortes, got stopped by the Poh-leece... said I was goin' too fast... oops... got off with only a "Watch it Fella"... :) I coulda sworn that sign said 50! :)

Walked on the Beach at sunset...

It's quiet and nice then... just a few folks around... the determined fishermen... and women... trying to catch some supper...

mostly... that stony beach is empty and quiet... and this time around, with calm seas... a pretty serene sort of a place. It lets a fella slow down and just breathe.

Sittin' down there sippin' on a cold brew... or in the early morning... with a hot cup... would be a pretty fine end, or start of a day.

After a year+ on the road, I'm pretty settled into the goin' slow way of goin'. Just not in much of a hurry to get anywhere... OK...

It's a lil' different when I climb on the Raider... but... if they don't want a guy to lean through those twisties, they shoudn't build roads that just beg to be straightened! :)

But... for the most part, I'm pretty content with takin' the time to smell the roses a touch.

I still haven't quite figured out the attraction that the ocean and lakes, and rivers have for me... Bein' that I don't have any great liking for swimming, boats and water still have an odd draw...

So... we got on one of those "Boats" of the Washington State Ferry System the day before yesterday and took a ride out to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island...

*Loading onto the Washington State Ferry*

That's a nice ride across there on calm seas...

Stopped at the Whale museum in Friday Harbor, to kinda get our bearings, when we first got off the boat...

*How'd you like HIS dental Bill?*

 ... and then took a ride, roughly around the perimeter of the island. It's not quite what you might expect. Our thought was it would all be sailing and "Marine" kinda things, with the road following the shore line more... but... you ride through small valleys with small farms and cattle all over! Even an Alpaca farm... unexpected.

We hoped to spot some Orcas that were supposed to be on the way across from Victoria... but... apparently they weren't aware they had an appointment to be seen... so ... No Joy there. :)

*Lighthouse on San Juan Island*

There was, how-some-ever... one lil' showman at one of the pullouts above the ocean in the whale watching area...

You could almost here the lil' beggar. "Hey! Yo! Them whales is nothin'! I'm here NOW! and I'm cuter! Gimme a treat!"

Lil' guy cracked me up... went from person to person... car to bike... and waited there lookin' at you like; "Why aren't you feeding me!!!???"

Yeah well... I told him to go get a job... and rode on!

With just a small OOPS! in Friday Harbor... with the Raider layin' on its side... and me on mine... under it... EMBARRASSING!!!!

We got back on the ferry for the return trip to Anacortes...

A lot quieter trip coming back. In the morning, folks walkin' around, talking and joking... a lot more animated... in the early evening... sittin' quiet, watchin' the water and sailboats slide by...

*Wouldn't be too bad for a full-time "RV"... would it? :)*

In the morning, we got up, packed up and moved the rig to the Marina in Anacortes... where, in the afternoon we linked up with the Artful Blogger! :)

And, watched 'em erect their pop up, Chalet RV "Home" in 54 seconds! :)

Their new lil' rig is actually pretty cool. It's quite a bit bigger and more spacious than I expected... kind of an intriguing outfit...

We shared Brats Beans and Brew, under the awning here at the Marina, and then after Mark and Bobbie retired to their lil' Chalet, we took the dogs for a sunset stroll 'round the Cap Sante Boat Haven Marina.

*Sunset over the Cap Sante Boat Haven Marina in Anacortes*

It's a hard life...

So... I better get back to livin' it... or I'll get left behind...

Sittin' in our Dryland RV... amongst the Deep Sea "RVs" in Anacortes, Washington
Brian

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We've Hit the Coast and Endured Our First Sunset on Whidbey Island

Our last circle, last year, was 'bout a month later than now, and three hundred miles or so south...

*Sunset Over Deception Island*

The day before we got here, last year, it was 70 degrees and sunny... when we pulled into Cape Disappointment at the mouth of the Columbia, the rain was coming in buckets and the surf was 20 feet high...

This time around... so far... it's a lot different.

Not a cloud in the sky... the sea is calm... and the sunset, while maybe not spectacular...

It makes making photographs a lot easier.

The only complaint a guy might could have about the coast is... ever'body else likes it too! So any place a person could sit a hooch... they've built one...

That leaves precious little for boondockers to squat on.

So... when we come here, we pretty much don't even try to find such accommodations and just suck it up and pay the freight for a camp... Which, for us, is expensive on this Pacific Coast.

We'll boondock when we move back away from the coast. Which, with our budget... that'll only be a very few days! :) Oh well... Life in the West... I could be back sellin' plumbing parts!

Instead of bein'... a genuine, published author! Livin' the highlife in a wore out 5er... gettin' drug into places like this... by a rattle trap Dodge! :)

You know... a guy told me, just yesterday... "You know what the difference 'tween Poor and Broke is?"... He tapped his head with a finger and said one word; "Mind set!" ... uh... that's two words... guess he couldn't add neither!

I'm gonna have to be one of those 'noisy' neighbors while we're here I guess. The old growth forest, we're sittin' in... is quiet and nice... but... outside of 'bout six minutes, just after one or so in the afternoon, the only sun hittin' the rig is filtered through the canopy, so there ain't much in the way of battery chargin' goin' on :)

So... I guess that generator we bought... the last time we hit the coast... is gonna get a lil' exercise.

It's a rough world I'm livin', to have such a pile of piddly complaints eh? oops... guess I've gotten a lil' close to Canada :)

*Calm Seas on the Pacific, this year!*

Do a lil' beach combing, a lil' kayaking in some quiet water... a lil' museum gazing... and... if I can find somebody who's left her purse unguarded :) (ya gotta watch out for western banditos!)... a ferry ride to San Juan Island? To run the Raider around it?

Let's just hope... THAT boat don't leave my precious Raider... on the bottom of Puget Sound!

Sittin' on the Pacific
Brian

Return to the main site of goin' RV Boondocking or Visit my Sister website Motorcycle Touring on Freedom Road

They Jump From a Perfectly Good Airplane...

When you're RV Boondocking, waaaaaay out on the back side of beyond... and you get up one morning... and way off, out in that rough, far country, that provides the view, that you chose your camp for... where not even a heli-attack crew can land...you see smoke...

Chances are, one of these fellas from the Smoke Jumper Base near Winthrop Washington, or one of the other 8 Smoke Jumper bases, from Montana to Alaska, are gonna come fallin' out of the sky on it!

Smoke Jumpers... kind of like un-armed Special Forces. :) As the original rough country jumpers, the smoke jumpers are even employed as demonstrators of rough country jumping by the U.S. Military.

Truth be known, I hadn't realized, the 101st and the 82nd Airborne Divisions, were formed... based on observation of this outfit, from back in 1939!

... and from what they say here... not too many ex-military manage to graduate their training schools. They've got as high if not higher washout rate than the Seals and Special Forces... Pretty inspiring group of people.

We dropped by the place yesterday, and was given a tour by Smoke Jumper, Jason Ramos.

Interesting guy... in his "Off" time... from dropping into Wild Fires by parachute... he's been living Full Time since the late '90's in one Sportsmobile 4X4 van or another. He's built himself a company from which he can market quite a few products that appeal to RVers... considering that he's tested them all through hell and tight quarters...

*Jason's Sportsmobile RV Home*

He's got everything from flashlights, interior/exterior/security LED Lights for RV's, knives and solar power to bamboo based bedding listed. As well as a goodly bunch of other products... that he uses on a daily basis... kinda cool! and since he's a full time RVer (Maximum Compression Variety with his Sportsmobile van!)... a Biker :)... and one of the elite firefighters... kinda lends him a lil' credibility I'd think. :)  

Might be a place to take a look or two! :)

anyhoo, he filled us in on quite a few lil' details 'bout Smoke Jumpers... who actually aren't the adrenaline junkies ya'll might think... fact is... an adrenaline junkie... tryin' to do what these guys do? just don't get it done! It's kinda like what Ol' Gus said; They're (adrenaline junkies) "Too leaky a vessel to put much faith in!"

What's more likely, that sort would get toasted early on. Their brains aren't in the Right place. These guys, on the other hand... are part of that Right Stuff sort... with their Hearts and Minds... in the Right Place.

*The Plane that 8 men fly into "Battle" on*

They've got a set of buildings there at the base, where, between flights and fire fights, the Fire Fighters build and maintain their equipment. Fact is, they, each, have to build their own jump suits and repair their chutes!

*Parachute inspection station*

So... they're not only Elite Fire Fighters... they're seamstresses too! ;)

From the shops and equipment I could see... they pretty much build, repair, modify and invent, anything their job might could need.

Jason said the mix of people that do the job is interesting too... professors, doctors, teachers... people come from all sorts of backgrounds.

Some do the job "Full-Time"... and I guess some fit the Smoke Jumping into their "Other Life" schedules... working part of the year as a fire fighter... and the other in their "Other" profession...

Whatever they are... these guys... and Gals! Seem to be that sort that are "Driven" to do more, be more... kinda nice to see folks like these... when we're so beaten down... with that "Other" sort... ever' time you make the mistake of turning on the news! :) or listening to the verbalized manure spreaders out of D.C.

So... if you're in the area of Winthrop, you might want to stop by and take a look at what these folks do... might give you a lil' more appreciation for their efforts... and even those of the less elite, but just as special, fire fighters who walk into the fight. :)

Sittin' and Scheming in the Washington Woods
Brian

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