Long drive to Glacier today

11 plus hours in the car today driving from Feyrer Park south of Portland to Glacier National Park. Connectivity at Glacier will be quite limited so

7000 Miles

Hit 7000 miles while driving around Portland and staying at Feyrer Park. We have a 12 hour drive today to reach Glacier National Park. We could see Mt Hood from Molalla where we were staying, but it is covered in fog when I tried to snap a shot for this post.

Visit with some Hanover buddies

It turns out that some Hanover friends were visiting their grandparents while we were in the Portland area.  We joined them for a trip to the zoo and a very pleasant home cooked meal.

Camp Fire Breakfast

We had a very slow morning.  We cooked scones and coffee over an open flame.  After this we headed into Portland to go to the zoo with Mia and Ella and have dinner with Nina's parents.

Camping in Feyrer Park

We are camping for two nights in Feyrer Park, a Clackamas County Park south of Portland.  This may be the nicest campground we've been in.  Only 20 spaces, wooded and well separated.  There is a stream at the back of the site.  Water and power are at the site and there is no bear trouble, making food storage and garbage much easier.

Beach on the Oregon Coast

We took a quick walk down to the water on the Oregon Coast.  The forest overlooking the ocean is amazingly thick and green right up to the bluffs above the ocean.  We are camping in Feyrer Park (a major competitor for Google supremacy on Feyrer searches) for the next two nights just south of Portland.  Tomorrow we get together with Mia and Ella, who are hanging out with their grandparents this week.

Camping on the Klamath River in CA

We were kind of winging it on where to stay as we headed up the coast.  The CA State Parks were all full so we found a commercial place as soon as we could, which turned out to be near 7 pm.  As commercial campgrounds go, it wasn't bad, with nice views of the Klamath River and nice grassy sites.  Still mostly an RV parking lot, though, as you can see.  Almost all of them had TV's on with the Olympic Opening Ceremonies (either through satellite dishes or the provided cable hookup).  We peered into their windows with envy.  There were tent sites right next to the river which looked nice.  It also had a good laundry facility, so we got that crucial task done.

Elk on the Northern California Coast

Apparently there are herds of Elk along the Northern California Coast.  These were seen in Redwood National Park.

Drive on the California Coast

We drove up the foggy California Coast on Highway 1 from Santa Rosa to Oregon yesterday.  We were driving through giant redwood territory, but it was pretty much impossible to get the kids interested in big trees after Sequoia.  I'm not sure I disagreed with them though the groves we drove through were really impressive.  Luckily we came across an opportunity to drive through a big tree in a roadside attraction like fashion for $5.  This not a state or national park sanctioned activity since it really is not good for the tree.  We would have had to unhitch the trailer to get our car through so we walked instead.

From Sea to Shining Sea

We drove from Yosemite to San Francisco to drop Maggie off with her dad.  Sheila handled the trailer through the streets of San Francisco during rush hour with aplomb (I highly recommend Waze if you are trying to navigate through city traffic using your iphone).  The second and third pictures are from the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge.  San Francisco is amazingly foggy in the summer and cold (60ish).  From the other side of the bridge it looks like the city is suffering a dementor attack.  We are at a hotel in Santa Rosa for the night and will spend the next two days picking our way up the coast on the way to Portland.

6000 Miles

We hit the 6000 mile mark just as we were leaving the Stanislaus National Forest outside Yosemite. So far so good!

More Upper Yosemite Falls

At the top of the falls are some clear, clean pools that we swam in a bit.  Incredibly refreshing after the climb.

Hike to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls

We took a long, tough hike to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls. Over 7 miles and about 2800 feet of elevation change.  We took a bit over 6 hours and followed up with a fancy dinner in the lodge.  It was fantastic to get away from the crowds in Yosemite Valley, though we were hardly alone on the trail.