Welcome

The CoolRVers were actually a couple of retirees, Judy and Luke Rinehimer and their rescue German Shepherd dog, Miss Shady Lady. We were "extended-time" travelers for many years with a homebase in Cool, California for 40 years. Luke passed away in May 2019 and I continued to RV. Many followed along with our travels throughout North America in our 40' "rolling condo" and our later downsized Class C motorhome, enjoying the RV lifestyle. Your comments are always welcomed.


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Monday, May 30, 2011

Heading for the Border

Driving through Oregon and Washington on I-5 and surrounding freeways were not the most scenic of routes. We did snap a couple of shots that represent what we saw:

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This place reminded us that Washington is know for its apples.  Unfortunately, we never saw an orchard.

 

 

How about this relic?  When was the last time you actually saw a “working” telephone in a booth.  It even had a current telephone directory! This booth was in an I-5 Rest Area with even a lot for RVs separate from the trucks and cars.   While I had not been looking up geocaches in our travels, I did do a look all around.

 

IMG_3047Luke driving through Seattle.

Our plan for getting through Washington State over a holiday weekend backfired.  We thought if we stopped at a military FamCamp we could snag a couple of sites and stay into the weekend without having to deal with those folks who only get to camp on holidays.  Wrong.  Frank King, our traveling partner, tried calling multiple military camps in the Tacoma & Seattle areas only to learn we could not get in.  Back to the Elks Lodge RV Parking Guide…

We found open sites at the Puyallup Lodge, but they were on wet grass with more rain expected.  While we didn’t sink, we thought one night there was enough.  The crazy looking pole out our front window was interesting. On closer inspection we discovered it was a warning siren in case the Mt. Rainier Volcano decided to erupt.  We all thought it funny that the instructions were to go to higher ground.  As Frank said, “isn’t that where Mt. Rainier is?”

 

A call ahead to the Mount Vernon Elks, just 50 miles to our border crossing, did find us two spots to rest for the weekend.  A day off from driving in rainy, urban areas is something we needed.  This lodge was convenient to the freewaWA Mount Vernon Elksy, shopping, and fuel.  The Lodge was closed while we were there so didn’t get to check it out.  Most of the rigs in the lot were long-term residents, with only a few spaces for transients. 

We were advised to fuel up before leaving the USA so we both took on diesel at the local Safeway – $4.16 with our grocery card .03/gal. discount.  (Prices between Mt. Vernon and the border ranged from $4.27 to $4.39,)  Who would have thought we would be celebrating these prices!  We understand the Canadians cross the border constantly for their fuel.

Besides a stop at Walmart, we used our Sunday to shop for new rain pants for Luke. (We actually had purchased a rain suit before leaving home, but discovered the Men’s Medium he thought he was buying turned out to be a Woman’s Small.  Ooops!  Wrong merchandise on the wrong hanger.) 

He found what he needed at Sportsman’s Warehouse where we also got to claim our wildlife photos of the day:

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We are not hunters, but I guess if you were, these guys lining every wall of the place would inspire you to run out and buy all the gear you would need to claim your own trophy collection.  We hope to collect our wildlife the digital way.

Monday was our travel day into British Columbia.  You can read about that in our next blog.

NEXT:  Border to Cache Creek

2 comments:

O.B. Sirius said...

That phone booth is just amazing! The last ones I've seen were gutted relics.

We stayed put over "Amateur Weekend," south of SLC, but are pulling out this morning.

Zoe

Sue Malone said...

Rain pants...oops? I have no rain pants?? Well, reading your I-5 story has cemented our thoughts to travel north via Highway 97 and Wenatchee to enter Canada on the east side of the Cascades. We weren't quite sure of our route, but that one is familiar to us, as is the I-5 route, so we picked the non-interstate run. We'll see if it takes longer. I can comment! I can comment!! :)