Sunday, Sept. 16 – Monday, Sept. 24
I’m going to back up for a moment and revisit the last day we spent in West Yellowstone. After packing everything securely away in the trailer in preparation for our Monday departure, we took a couple hours to visit The Bear and Wolf Education Center, located right in West Yellowstone. It is an excellent resource center for understanding the history and habits of grizzy bears and wolves in Yellowstone. Since we did not see any bears in the wild, it was also an opportunity to view some up close. According to most people with whom I spoke, the wolves have decimated the elk herd in the Park as well as the moose population. Thus, there are mixed feelings about them. Perhaps they should allow limited hunting each year to control the population, which seems to be growing quickly.
I previously mentioned the incredible landscape of Eastern Washington. Within a mile that vista of cultivated fields turned to one of a the Columbia River basin, which presents as a gorge surrounded by volcanic waste. Nothing at all grows in this region, and it a stark contrast to the fertile valley we had just driven through.
On Wednesday we arrived at Sally’s. We have spent our time relaxing and catching up on things……oil change for van, hair and nail appts., laundry, and restocking our food for the next legs of our journey. What a wwonderful Farmers Market they have each Saturday. Sally lives on Fidalgo Island in Anacortes. The vistas are beautiful. The picture below is from Cap Sante, the highest point in Anacortes that overlooks the harbor and the Cascades.
One day we traveled down to Whidbey Island and had lunch in Coupeville, a delightful little town that is rich in history and is most famous in a contemporary sense for the mussel farms just off its shores. We ate lunch at Toby’s, a tavern with a bar that is OLD. It traveled originally by square masted schooner around Cape Horn in the early 1800’s and was stored at a local military base during prohibition. When the hotel where it was eventually placed burned down, the bar was saved and moved to the building that is now Toby’s. We dined on mussel chowder and fried oyster sandwiches. WOW, what a treat!
Yesterday, they held the annual Oyster Run. About 10,000 motorcyclists come to town. Average age about 60 something. I’m not sure what the attraction is, but they seem to just enjoy riding around like a parade, while people watch.🙄
I hope in my next entry to add some pictures of Anacortes houses and cottages. Very unique landscaping of properties here.