Turner Joy’s distinctive service included a double-duty role as flagship for Destroyer Squadron 13 and Destroyer Division 131 with several tours in the Pacific. She also stood air-sea rescue duty near the Marianas Islands for President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s visit to several Asian nations. In terms of history, this vessel...
Wolf Haven International, formerly known as Wolf Haven America and Wolf Haven Country, is a wildlife rehabilitation and non-profit organization that focuses on wolves. Founded in 1982 the group provides educational programs on wolves, engages in wolf-related activism, and operates a sanctuary that houses primarily captive-born wolves. I learned about...
In an attempt to avoid driving straight trough the Seattle area, I chose to take the longer way around the metro area. Since my overnight stay in Mt Vernon, I got off the Interstate and rode out to Granite Falls which is home to Robe Canyon Historic Trail, where I...
Rockport State Park is a 670-acre park in an ancient forest. The old growth was never logged, and the entire ecosystem remains in place, creating a rare, natural forest with a canopy so dense that minimal sunlight penetrates to the ground. – parks.wa.gov Not originally on my itinerary, Rockport State...
The plan was perfect; Camp the night just north of Winthrop, wake early, and set out to drive over the North Cascades Highway up and over the ‘American Alps’ in the early morning. It was all working perfectly until a Pacific storm sprinkled the plan with a little confusion… snow...
It is a risk of van-dwelling; pulling into your planned overnight stop only to see signs posted prohibiting overnight parking. That is what happened when I pulled into the Walmart just outside of Chelan, Washington. I’m not about to break the city ordinance, so I set out to find another...
I decided on a quick bike ride before leaving the Grand Coulee area. Steamboat Rock State park doesn’t have a lot in terms of hiking or biking, it is more about boating and swimming, but the Northrup Canyon trail leads out to an old homestead, so I went for it....
Grand Coulee Dam is a gravity dam on the Columbia River built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation. It was constructed between 1933 and 1942, originally with two power plants. A third power station was completed in 1974 to increase its energy production. It is the largest electric power-producing...
Hawk Creek has to be one of the coolest, and cutest, little campgrounds I have ever seen. It has 27 sites (a bit crammed in there), pit toilets, swimming, fishing, hiking trails, and a boat launch… but wait, there is more. When I came into the campground I drove straight...
For thousands of years, the area was a gathering place for native tribes fishing the rapids of the Spokane River. Fort Spokane was one of the last forts built in the West in 1880. By 1898 it was abandoned by the US Army. The fort was then used as an...
