North to Alaska: Bellingham, WA to La Grande, OR

Leaving Bellingham and heading south on Interstate 5 reminded us of one of the reasons we liked Alaska so much. This was the first time we had been on an interstate in over three months. Six lanes, 70+ miles per hour, no place to fit another car,

these people down here must be insane. Where are those Alaskan highways with dirt, gravel, frost heaves, 40-45 miles per hour on a good stretch and no traffic? Another good reason to turn around!! Well, about three hours of this interstate racing was all we wanted for our first day back in the "lower 48". Fort Lewis just outside of Tacoma, WA. was a pleasant site for us. With it being Labor Day weekend we were still able to get a campsite for two nights. Once we were set up we made a run to the commissary to stock up on some needed items; chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate plus a few other items... We figured a couple days would give us enough time to get our land legs back and be ready to travel on south. On Sunday we decided to leave Fort Lewis and head to Mount Rainier.

After visiting Mount Rainier and thourghly enjoying the mountain and all the beautiful scenery we headed south on Highway 12 to Interstate 82 to Yakima, Washington where we spent the night at Walmart. The next morning we continued down Interstate 82 to the little town of Prosser, WA. We had breakfast here and almost wound up in the middle of their Labor Day Parade. Another thing that was new to us was seeing all the hops grown around Prosser… The same hops used to make beer. The fields where these hops were being grown had hundreds if not more large poles that resembled telephone poles all through the fields. Attached to these poles was some type of wire or twine that the hops grew on, similar to stringing beans but much larger. At first we thought it was some type of secret bean and then our next question was how in the world would you pick those beans. Anyway, our curiosity got the best of us so we finally asked someone at breakfast what was growing on all those large poles. Hops and more hops we were told. All we could say was it must take a lot of hops to make beer… From Prosser it was to Interstate 84 and on to La Grande, OR. where we spent the night at Eagles Hot Lake RV Park. The next morning we spent with Northwood Campers who made our Arctic Fox. What a great bunch of people at Northwood. We really, really enjoyed our visit with them. Thanks allot to Dave, Rich and Nancy who made our visit a memorable experience. Now on to some pictures of how we got to La Grande...

Where we spent the night in La Grande. Nice RV Park close to Northwood Campers.

To get to La Grande, we chose to go through Seattle. We spent quite a bit of time last year in Seattle and really enjoyed our visit.

The Space Needle. If you are ever in Seattle the Space Needle is a must.

Our home for our first night back in the lower "48"

Very beautiful campsites with all the amenities you would ever need.

Our campsite at Fort Lewis.

Gypsy is starting to become a real socialite. I sure hope this is nothing serious.

Will the real Gypsy please stand up

After leaving Fort Lewis we decided to visit Mount Rainier. Mount Rainier is a very beautiful volcanic mountain. In fact; Mount Rainier is a massive stratovolcano located 54 miles (87 km) southeast of Seattle in the state of Washington, United States. It is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with a summit elevation of 14,411 feet (4,392 m). Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, and it is on the Decade Volcano list. Because of its large amount of glacial ice, Mt. Rainier could potentially produce massive lahars that would threaten the whole Puyallup River valley.

A couple more pictures of Mount Rainier

Mount Rainier across from a reflection lake

A small waterfall in Mount Rainier National Park

Roadways throughout Mount Rainier National Park were mostly good two lane but roads. In some areas they were very curvy with little to no shoulders.

Decision time! Can we make it through this tunnel? Believe me, we went very slowly and straddled the center line. Whew!! We made it.

This is Prosser, WA. where we almost wound up in the middle of their Labor Day Parade. We were riding around this little town when we made a turn onto one of the streets where the further we went the more people we saw sitting beside the street waiting for something. It wasn't long before we knew what they were waiting for when we ended up at the line-up for the parade.