26-30 June 2018
Birch Bay, R V Resort
Happy Silver Anniversary to my awesome and beautiful wife, I love her!
We left Spokane enroute to the most western, northern town named Blaine, Washington, just a mile or so south of the Canadian border. Our route is a 380 miles and we plan on stopping somewhere in the mountains after about 250 miles.
We traveled route 20 west along the Cascade Scenic Hwy, and wow, what a great drive, through a very beautiful part of the country. We had a few good inclines going over the cascades as we saw glaciers in the saddles of the mountains, and snow in the forest. The towering Ponderosa Pines and lushness of the forest is spectacular, so green, so big, wow…. the two lane road weaved through the valleys and up the sides of the mountains, offering awesome views of the great northwest forests.
We stopped at the North Cascades National Park, to see if there was any camp sites available. As with most National Parks, that were built by the CCC in the 1930, maneuvering a 60 foot BFT and fifth wheel is a fun experience. I like the challenge, and we found a 35 foot spot, that we “shoe-horned it into for the night. Snug as a bug in rug…… We went to the visitor center, watched thier movie, and browsed through the museum of the park. No utilities and no sun for solar in this forest, but we will be leaving in the morning, so we have plenty of juice.
The next day, we finished up the drive and got to Blaine, at the Birch Bay RV resort by noon.
We some some Fireweed plants along side the road. We remember that in Alaska, fireweed is an indicator of the coming of winter. Once the top flowers bloom, the first snow is likely less than 30 days away. So we were mindful of that last year, but not so concerned now….
The next day we went to the Peace Arch Park , which consists of Peace Arch Provincial Park on the Canadian side and Peace Arch State Park on the American side of the border. Within the park is a major border crossing (between Interstate 5 on the U.S. side and British Columbia Highway 99 on the Canadian side). The Peace Arch symbolizes a long history of peace between the two nations. Beautiful gardens, and well manicured grass. It is so good to see green… we spent a while in the desert states and are tired of brown and red rock and dirt.
