Pacific Northwest - September 2020

Tami and Chris flew to the Pacific Northwest to visit Eli.  Tami was in Charleston with her parents, and Chris was at home in Baltimore.  We met up in Atlanta and flew together to Portland, where we rented a car and drove to Hood River.  We wanted to try to get away with just the three of us, but the trip ended up being a lot more stressful that we had originally hoped.  We had planned to head east into the Rockies to relax, and then back west to Olympia to stay a few days with Tami's cousin and his wife.  The wildfires in California and Oregon filled the sky with so much smoke that visibility was reduced to a few hundred yards in the Columbia River gorge by the second day we were there, and the smoke had reduced visibility going east all the way to Glacier National Park.  The Tetons and Yellowstone were both showing OK when we left Oregon, so we headed across Idaho for Jackson, Wyoming.  As it turned out, the smoke and other problems stayed with us into Wyoming and throughout much of the trip. Eli broke his arm in Jackson, and things got worse after that.  To help make things better, we visited with Chris's cousin and his wife in West Yellowstone, Montana and then drove to California, where Eli had medical coverage. Eli decided to stay in Sacramento by himself, so Tami and Chris drove up along the California and Oregon coasts, headed for Olympia, Washington.  We made it to Olympia and visited with Tami's cousin and is wife for a few days before we flew home from Portland.  Apart from the time with our cousins, it was the most stressful 'vacation' we have ever had. All the photos on this page were also taken with a point-and-shoot camera or a phone. Chris did not expect to be traveling to parks on this trip, so he only took a Nikon L840 camera along to save space in his luggage.

Columbia River

Grand Teton National Park

Compare these photos to the same ones taken in June 2020, when Chris was in the Tetons and Yellowstone with Karen and Doug.  The wildfires, in addition to burning a record 4 million acres in California, impacted the whole country with much reduced air quality.  All the photos are washed out, and have much less visibility than normal.

View from Signal Mountain of Jackson Hole, Grand Teton National Park, 13 September 2020

View from Signal Mountain of Jackson Hole, Grand Teton National Park, 20 June 2020

Yellowstone National Park

- Old Faithful, Hayden Valley, Mud Volcano

- Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Lamar Valley

We spent the first night within Yellowstone National Park at a cabin at Old Faithful, and the second night at a cabin at Canyon.  We hiked around the upper geyser basin at Old Faithful during the first morning, and then drove east to West Thumb and along the shore of Yellowstone Lake.  We stopped at Lake General Store, where we had food and ice cream while relaxing on the shore of the lake.  We then drove on past Fishing Bridge and through Hayden Valley, stopping at Mud Geyser and then at several viewpoints along Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  When we left Canyon the second morning, we drove west to Norris Geyser Basin and then north to Mammoth Hot Spring, and east past Tower to Lamar Valley.  The road from Canyon to Tower was closed for construction.  As we were passing Norris Geyser Basin we could see Steamboat Geyser erupting (16 Sep 2020, reached 375'), but the line of traffic was very long, so we had to watch it from a viewpoint to the north.  After making it to Lamar Valley and seeing our one bear for this trip, sleeping next to a tree near the road, we retraced our path at the end of the day and headed to Chris' cousin's home in West Yellowstone, Montana, where we spent the night.

Old Faithful, Hayden Valley, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Steamboat Geyser, Norris Geyser Basin    Black Bear, Lamar Valley

Black Dragons Caldron at Mud Volcano, Hayden Valley (here)

Mud Geyser at Mud Volcano, Hayden Valley (here)

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone from Lookout Point (here)

Old Faithful, Mud Volcano, Canyon, Steamboat Geyser, 15-16 Sep 2020

California

- Sonoma Coast State Park, Salt Point State Park, California Coast National Monument - Point Arena Lighthouse
- Prairie Creek State Park - Fern Canyon, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Redwoods State and National Parks, Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Tami and Chris stayed in Calistoga, Napa Valley, for two nights and then went west to the coast. They drove north along the coast for several days and made it to Olympia, Washington, where they visited with Tami's cousin Doug and his wife Yong for a few days before flying home.

Castello di Amoroso, Calistoga, California, 20 Sep 2020 (damaged by wildfire 10 days later)

Pacific Coast Highway - California State Route 1

Avenue of the Giants - Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Goat Rock State Beach - Sonoma Coast State Park, Russian River, California (here)

View from Little River Inn

Fern Canyon - Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

Oregon 

- Harris Beach State Park, Samuel H Boardman State Scenic Corridor, Humbug Mountain State Park, Sunset Bay State Park

- Cape Arago State Park, Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area – Horsfall Beach, Seal Rock State Recreation Site
- Devils Punchbowl Arch – Otter Rock, Rocky Creek State Scenic Viewpoint, Fogarty Creek State Recreation Area

- Bob Straub State Park, Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area, Cape Lookout State Park,  Hug Point State Recreation Area

- Tolovana Beach State Recreation Site - Cannon Beach - Haystack Rock, Ecola State Park – Indian Beach, Tolmie State Park

California and Oregon Coast, 21 - 24 September 2020

Washington Capital, Olympia, Tolmie State Park, Puget Sound

Tolmie State Park, Puget Sound, Washington