Seeing Double?

T49c and T77a

We are off on this fabulous Saturday in April to see what we can see...and we see a lot!  We are not far into our trip this afternoon....just enjoying the massive Steller sea lions up at Green Point, when these two Transient orca whales are found minutes from our position!

Steller sea lions hauled out on the rocks

The sea lions are in a huge debate as to who is "king of the rock" today and we watch them push and shove each other around physically and add emphasis vocally!

The two Transient orcas we find today are identified as T49C and T77A, both males, both with the same size dorsal fin and amazingly, both with double notches out of the trailing edge of the dorsals!?  It's easy to call them "the twins" yet they are not even from the same family.

Hunting together

We are lucky enough to watch them for an hour as they travel through the San Juans, exhibing some hunting behavior, circling around, doubling back, speeding up, slowing down, crossing over, deep dives...and surprise surfacings.

Hello Harbor seals!

Harbor seal...shy guy?  

                There are many Harbor seals hauled out today.  What great camouflage coloration!

Moma or Papa Bald eagle on nest duty!

The eagle count for today stands at 7 by the time we reach home.  We find two active nests with adult eagles tending to nest duties.  We will be watching these nests for the next two months for signs of eaglets.

Along the banks of Cactus Island we come across a River otter scrambling up from the water.  The otter doesn't seem to notice us and spends a lot of time posing on the rocks.

River otter

Lots of sea birds abound today...Harlequin ducks, Comorants, Black oyster catchers and of course Gulls!  As it turns out, our route takes us back to the harbor and right past the Transient orca twins again!  They are still in hunting mode, cruising close to shore.  They even poke right into Friday Harbor!

Transinet male orca in San Juan Channel

This is my first day for the 2014 season and it's a great one!  What a fabulous beginning to what feels like a great summer season ahead!

The "Red Roads" Rock!

We head out of Valley of Fire on a Friday morning.  We decide to take as many "red roads" on the way home as possible, avoiding most of the Interstate Hwy routes.  After the challenging driving on Mex #1 it feels like this is possible because these two lane roads in the U.S. actually have shoulders.  Wide shoulders!  And, a bonus of not much for traffic as most take the Interstates.  A short hop on I-15 and we exit 11 miles later to 93 northbound.  That leads us to...wait for it...The Extraterrestial Highway...#375!  Who could possibly pass by this opportunity?????

#375 Nevada

 We are interested in taking this state highway as it is rumored that flying saucers, and the like, use this area for landing excursions!  We are on high alert...looking UP, looking DOWN, looking ALL AROUND!

Yep, we're on the right road!

Pretty straight, STRAIGHT....road...

We head north toward the "town" of Rachel.  Not much to see, for sure no traffic...and, no space vehicles either.

The Little AleInn in Rachel

Arriving in Rachel about noon, we pull into the parking lot at the Little AleInn Restaurant and Bar.  (It's also a curio shop for alien stuff!)  After lunch in the RV we wander into the restaurant / bar / shop.

Make new friends...but keep the old...???

We billy up to the bar for....

Boo-Berry Pie!!!  And ice cream, of course!

A little time for conversation with the bar keeper (owner) and learn they have 10 guest rooms (look like single wide trailers to us) and 5 RV spaces (couldn't really figure those out)...and of course, 5 different kinds of pie and vanilla ice cream....and lots of booze, but, heck, it's 1:00 p.m. and we're northbound.

More of 375 northbound

Too early to stop, it's back on the road for us.  We'll have to see our UFO's in the daylight, if we do!

Next is red road NV#376, also called the Big Smokey Valley scenic route....and scenic it is!  Wow, what country and weather!

Oh Nevada!  You surprise me!

We figure in the next 200 miles we will find the perfect place to stop.  Why?  Who knows, as there is nothing around here, but beautiful country.  No traffic, no towns, no wide spots in the road, no rest areas, no gas stations, no...no...nothing.

More beauty

Perhaps when we get to "Austin, NV" there will be a good place to stop for the night?  Not much shows up on my apps for "RV overnight."  We find at the end of this 100 mile stretch, a mountain pass, right before Austin!  What?  Snow?

ICK!

Once we are safely down into Austin, I think, surely this is where we STOP.  But, we are through Austin before we blink and on to the next stretch of red road, # NV 305.  This stretch is another 100 miles.  Feels too long to go all the way to Battle Mountain, but look where we spend the perfect night! (It's perfect because we are stopped.)

Flying J truck stop Battle Mountain, NV

Not hard to get going fairly early...no reason to dally here!  It's off to the last stretch of northern NV, through Winnemucca and up, yep, red road NV#95.  Before we know it we are crossing into Oregon.

More red roads in Oregon!

This is now day 3 and our goal tonight is the rest area west of Ellensburg, WA.  So, it's red roading it up central Oregon, crossing into WA above Hermiston and on toward Ellensburg, and now a short dash on the Interstate.

Welcome home!

Roll on Columbia...roll on...

 Our plan is working great, until it's not working at all.  Suddenly right before the much anticipated rest area, there is a huge sign saying "Rest Area CLOSED."  What??????  Much disbelief fills the RV.  And as we are actually passing the exit to the rest area (many orange barrels) I see that, wait, no, it's OPEN!?  But, as I said we are passing the exit.  And the next exit is Cle Elum.  Another few miles...so we drive through town and wind up at, yes, the Cle Elum railroad crossing parking lot!

Cle Elum railroad crossing

I bet you want to know how many trains pass through here each night?  Or at least on a Sunday night!  We know!  FOUR!  All eastbound, all blowing lots of whistles and having many, many cars.

On the plus side we know from our horse showing days, there is a Dairy Queen in this town and we are walking distance!  (because we are NOT at the rest area....)

Guilty as charged

What you can't see is that as I am snapping the photo, oops...the sundae tips over and spills all over the table top (grate) and the dogs wait underneath...very happy dogs.  :)

Chocolate cherry sundaes are my favorite!

Another easy early departure from this fine night's rest....and we are off over the pass by 8:00 a.m.
That puts us on the ferry at 2:40 and driving up to Froglanding by 4:00 p.m.!!

Tight squeeze

Home sweet home....

The pups are sticking their heads out the RV window all the way up the last bit...and what a homecoming run they do!!  Door open, paws on the ground...and well, off the ground too!

Sparky being...very sparky!

                                         There truly is.....really...NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

  Steve & Nan, Skipper & Sparky, 5,600 miles, 560 gallons of diesel, 130 days, 6 states, 2 countries!

Dragging our Flip Flops in the Red Dirt

Heading into Valley of Fire State Park, NV

Did you ever  notice that when the red is "redder" the green is "greener"?  Oh, and the blue is definitely "bluer" too.  We notice this once again, this time while dragging our flip flops in the red dirt resisting the northwest trek that is ahead of us.  How about just "one more stop?"  Why not?

The red rock country of the desert southwest is totally awesome, and Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, does not disappoint.  Once again we are struck by the landscape, the colors, the geology, the history....the...all of it!

Yep, we're in the right place!

It takes about two hours to drive from St. George, UT to our last park destination, Valley of Fire.  We know we are not far from Las Vegas....maybe 50 miles...but, we feel like we couldn't be further.

Snugged into our spot surrounded by red rock

Pretty cool campground!

The RV spaces here are a little less private than the other parts of the campground...but..they have electricity and water available.  Such luxury for a state park campground!

We head out to explore by Jeep and find the trail to "Mouse's Tank."  This is a slot canyon up high in the park and the history tells us that many have been here through time.  One famous person was an outlaw named Mouse, who used the canyon as a hide out because there was a water collection pool at the end of the canyon.  In these wild rocky canyons, pools of water in natural rock "holes" are called "tanks."  Wandering up this trail...we find evidence of many more who had traveled here before us...and way before Mouse!

Mouse's Tank.....end of the trail is here.

Nan and the boyz on the trail

Steve and the boyz on the way to Mouse's Tank

As we walk this trail our eyes are drawn up high on the walls of the canyon.  Petroglyphs are everywhere...but what do they say?  There are stories here....many many stories.

Dancers dancing the ....special dance...

We went "this way"....

 Here's my favorite story wall...after looking at some of the translations in guides...see if you think I am on the the idea of this very long story?  Maybe?  Sort of?

Once upon a time there was a brave hunter.  After a long walk on the trail holding his weapon over his head, he passes a corn plant.   He successfully hunts two big horn sheep, and one of them is eating a snake!  He climbs a very, very big cliff and and wishes he had a ladder.  Then...he finds a big bear (on the right), plus a pueblo(circle within circle) of others living in bear country, but he must keep gong up the steep cliff.  Finally, FINALLY, he reaches the tippy top of the cliff.  Time to stretch out on the ground...but...wait...who is this?  Another hunter...being chased by a baby goat or maybe antelope?   Then, more hunting way up on top with a weapon called an "altal"....um, and some other things too.  I might have missed some waterfalls or pools...and more dancing...blobs?

The next day we find some of the rock formations.  There is one called The Grand Piano and we must visit that in honor of Steve's mom who played the piano so beautifully!  Then we find The Elephant...well, because we have never seen a rock elephant.

The Grand Piano

The Elephant....see it???

Near by is the Lost City Museum, where we find a re-creation of the early pueblo housing.  Perhaps these were the canyon wall artists who left us such cryptic messages?

No one home.....

Pretty fascinating place.  But no matter how fascinating...eventually...it's time to trade in the flip flops for ....gasp...shoes!?  It's April.  We've been "off island" now for four months...and almost two weeks.  It's time.  The road home beacons...

Not too many kayaks on top of cars around here....easy to spot us!

We Do belong somewhere else....

Our companions are ready to run!

Here we go....

Good-bye red rock country

But we can't forget our "other place" that we belong!

We leave Valley of Fire State Park on a Friday morning....deciding to use as many of  the "red roads" as we can for the trip home.  Besides...the first one is also called "The Extraterrestial Highway"!  Really, how could you NOT take that road???????