From Southern California to Northwest Washington state

The two weeks in California were amazing. We began the time by staying a night with Randy Roy and his family; I had not seen Randy and his wife since we were in our teens, so it was amazing to catch up. They have a great family and home, and we're super grateful for their amazing hospitality. We drove north to Exeter after leaving their place and spent six days in that area; most of our time was spent in the Otis home, which is situated on Rocky Hill. We spent quite a bit of time catching up with my sister Lynda as well, which was incredible. While at the Otis' home we also went to the Sequoia National Park and saw the giant trees. John and Rhoda Otis showered us with kindness through their unsurpassed hospitality; we miss them so much! We drove north then to Robin and Stephen King's home, but first we met them in the lovely Yosemite Park; what a beautiful place that is! We arrived at the King's late in the evening and enjoyed a restful night of sleep; the following days spent in their home were rich in fellowship, fun, and relaxation; Bastian rode their horse, Spencer, swam in their ponds, and a good time was had by all. Our last night was spent in the home of Roy and Anne Ingram; we enjoyed getting to know them better, and our only regret was that we had so short a time to spend together. Our last night spent in California was in the Mt. Shasta area; we drove around the entire mountain, looking for just the right place to camp, and eventually we found a place at around 7000 feet; there was still snow on the ground, imagine that! Our camping spot was not in a campground, so we were quite vulnerable to the wildlife in the area; during the night an animal approached our site and gave us quite a scare; in the end we concluded that it was likely a deer, but we'll never know for sure. The following day we entered into Oregon and headed out to the coast to find a place to camp for the night; as we arrived we were disappointed to find that fog had enshrouded the entire coastline. We found a small gravel road in the national forest there and headed up; we managed to climb to an elevation far above the fog and camped once again in the wild for the night. All that night we could hear the Pacific surf smashing against the base of the mountain far below. The next morning we headed still farther north through Portland, OR and into Washington state; we got a good look at Mt. St. Helen's and then headed for a campground near Mt. Rainier. What a lovely mountain that is, wow! The cascades are an amazing mountain range. Yesterday we headed up interstate 5 and crossed onto Widby Island where we are currently spending the weekend with my old friends, Andrew and Emily Keresey and their beautiful five children. On Monday morning we plan to head to points further north into Canada; we're going to spend a night near Vancouver and then head towards Banf National Park in Alberta. We will be posting more pictures soon, but if you haven't had a chance, check out our newest ones on the link below.