Seattle - Albuquerque
First Airstream Trip Feb 1-9, 2003

Enroute to Seattle, we stopped in Prosser, WA to see John, Vicki, Jack and their house surrounded by vineyards.

Leaving Prosser, we drove over Snoqualmie Pass, only 3022' but the far NW winter weather looked like this. The concern about pulling the Airstream home in snow prompted us to plan a coastal route for the return. We passed a ski area and saw to our surprise, people skiing in the snow/rain/fog.

We met Loren Peterson at his warehouse in the Ballard district of Seattle and finished the final negotiations to buy the 95 Airstream, a 25' Excella.. Carol & I celebrated by going to Anthonys Homeport restaurant. We had a view of the boats moving in and out of the ships canal and a wonderful seafood dinner.

Driving out of Seattle into the rural west Washington countryside.

These fishing boats in the river were reminiscent of South Haven.

At our first stop for the evening, Jerry took the occasion to read the manual. (It is sort of a guy thing to do :-)

The Washington coastal area is overcast and rainy a good bit of the time. This causes mildew even on automobiles. Humorous that someone wrote "Free" in the mildew.

The next day we had the good fortune to see these Sturgeon fishermen with their catch. Notice the weird mouth visable on the left fish.

Columbia River bridge looking from Washington toward Astoria, Oregon. The big ship channel is in the far distance.

This enlargement is pretty blurry due to the distance, but the arrow shows where the bridge arches up almost to the top of the trees in the background. Note the driftwood in the left foreground. These are not just sticks, but substancial tree trunks, bad for unwary boaters.

Like Washington, the northern Oregon coast was overcast.

Carol enjoying some cheese and a bit of the Washington state wine we bought before heading south.

Hwy 101 along the Oregon coast. Carol is waving her arms and seems happy to be off the winding cliff hanging road for awhile :-)

I think I went a little nuts snapping all these pictures, but I really liked the Oregon coast. Carol and I speculated what it would be like to live here.

Jerry and the LUVU4FR

This was our campsite at Rockaway Beach, OR.

Seagull by tidal pools.

We are a bit further south on the Oregon coast and the sunshine is becoming more frequent.

Umpqua Lighthouse

This was our lunch stop view at Port Orford.

A breezy day a gorgeous lady and some stunning ocean view properties.

Sea lions on the rocks. I think we are not in New Mexico anymore.

Pullouts around every bend to enjoy the views.

Carol rock collecting.

This is Harris Beach State Park, the nicest we found.

With "driftwood" in the water like this, boaters need to stay alert!

Reflections at Harris Beach. This was one of our last ocean views before turning inland.

Salmon fishermen in the Smith River, northern CA.

Don't know what this is but too pretty to pass up.

Pulling into Redwood National Park.

Leaning back and looking up at the tree tops.

East of Klamath Falls, Oregon is "Old Pertetual Geyser" that erupts every minute or two and shoots water/steam 30-40' into the air.

View of southeastern Oregon along Hwy 140. Some places in the world are so congested and others so empty!

Leaving Oregon, we passed into Nevada through towns of Winnemucca and Elko. I found little to tempt the camera. We did experience the lowest temperature of the trip, 14 degrees in Elko. The Airstream waste tanks froze up and remained so for the rest of the trip.

On the road into Arches National Park just north of Moab, UT. A big change in the scenery compared to Washington and Oregon.

This is the first arch we hiked to. That is Carol with her arms spread to show you the size.

After awhile, we were seeing arches everywhere.

The Airstream looks large in a driveway but pretty small out here!

This was our beautiful campsite and my lovely companion in Arches National Park with the La Sal mountains in the background.
The campground provided no services, the water is shut off in the winter. Curiously however, we did have cell service even though Moab, the nearest town is 25 miles away. I took the opportunity to send an e-mail via laptop & cell phone, (about an hour at 19.2kb) with this picture attached.

In addition to the arches, we also saw some balancing rocks.

Carol standing in the doorway of Wolfe cabin. Click for the interesting history of John Wolfe.

Home again! Twelve days, 3,663 miles and rich memories.