Balloon Rally

The final hoorah of the summer in Prosser, WA is the much anticipated and planned- for Balloon Rally. The RV Park has been entirely booked for months. It was to be a gala weekend at Wine Country RV Park with barbecue dinners, pancake breakfasts, music, prizes...and much wine, of course! We were busy Workampers for a few days!

Who knew that hot air balloons launch at daylight? On Friday, I awoke to see them floating by my bedroom window. We watched the remainder from the Bighorn's back window in the comfort of our recliners while sipping our delicious morning Carrabassett Coffee. On Saturday, however, we agreed to join our Workamper group to get the best view of the balloons as they launched, touched down on the river and then up and over the bridge. It did require walking into town at dawn, but we had Cinnabons and bubbles in hand to celebrate the occasion and the end of the season.

The balloons were spectacular! It was a perfectly clear morning, and the colorful balloons filled the sky. What a fitting end to a great summer!

First Workamping Vacation

Phew, we are exhausted from all the working--we need a vacation. A roadtrip to Ocean Shores on the coast will be perfect! We'll make a big loop around the Olympic Nat'l Park--Ocean Shores up to Cape Flattery, east to Port Angeles and south to Olympia. We're looking forward to eating some fresh salmon.

The mountain pass had fresh snow, but it was a clear day and we could see Mt. Rainier perfectly!

The north Pacific Coast is WILD and CRAZY! The tides are drastic and the beaches are pounded so hard the state of Washington considers them state highways. Vehicle traffic on the beach is normal. Ok, that was odd. The biking was fun and easy--even in the gale winds. The tide brings in many, many sand dollars. We had much fun hunting for the best ones.

Ruby Beach is not ruby-looking at all, but cool nonetheless. This certainly is not a swimming beach, but the huge sea stacks provide nice wind breaks. This part of the coast is rugged, remote and devoid of development save a few run down little towns.

Next stop, the Rain Forest to see the largest spruce tree. Of course, we didn't park in the parking lot ADJACENT to the largest spruce tree, so we donned our finest rain protection gear and hiked THROUGH THE RAIN FOREST TO THE LARGEST SPRUCE TREE! The Timber Museum sign in Forks lured us inside for an enjoyable tour of western logging practices. (A Forester can hardly ever pass by a Timber Museum without stopping.)

It was a long, long ride up to Cape Flattery, the northwestern most point of the contiguous U.S. The area is actually a Makah Indian Reservation. Although, in my humble opinion, it is worthy of National Park status, all one gets is a half-mile boardwalk out to the point...and that is it--no fanfare, no buying of commemorative souvenirs, no "congested" areas. Otherwise, it reminded us a lot of the Maine coast, particularly, Acadia Nat'l Park.

We returned to Prosser laden with smoked salmon--cajun, garlic and lemon flavored. All yummy!! On the way home, we stopped at Hoodsport Winery to taste, and we found Bob and Jenny Cope's house right across the street. It looked a fitting place for Bob to have spent his retirement time fishing off the back porch with a winery only a few steps away!

It's time to get back to work at the RV Park.