Day 8 - The Great Reno Balloon Race

For Saturday, September 10

Saturday morning in Reno came early with only an hour or so of rest. I found my way in the general direction of The Great Reno Balloon Race. Sleeping in until 5:00 a.m. and trying to find a parking spot among the crowds, I missed some of the before dawn activities. But after sunrise over the mountains, I was able to see several balloons take off.

I had a nice visit with a guy who had recently moved to the area and was hoping for some nice photos, like the rest of us. If I remember right, he had come from the L.A. area. He worked on computer graphics. So now part of his work was for graphics in various slot machines and other gaming equipment.

Opening fly-over

The elaborately shaped balloons are fun. But, from what I have seen in a few places, many of them have a difficult time getting up in the air and flying well. Or perhaps their owners and pilots take fewer risks. So they stay near the launch ground.

And that was my early morning...

Day 7 - Oregon to Reno, Nevada

I wake up in Dunes City, Oregon feeling pretty good. But looking on the map, I know I have a looooong ways to go to be in Reno, Nevada the next morning.

Campground morning fog

I took the twisty 101 down along the coast. I took a few photos along the way in Oregon. The rocky and hilly coast here is quite different from the flat and sandy shoreline of most of the East Coast.

As long as a person is stopped several minutes for road construction, they may as well look around and try to find something interesting.

I stopped for a bit at Coquille Point, Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

This part of a tree trunk is at least eight feet high.

Deer tracks on the beach

More Oregon coast

I drove through the Redwood National Park and hiked a tiny bit. The trees are huge. It is difficult to get the perspective with a photo. The road through the park is full of curves with these big trees within five inches of the pavement on either side.

Corkscrew tree and other redwood trees in Redwood National Park

Strange moss or fungus on this fuzzy tree

In northern California, I stopped at a “beach” sign before the road headed inland. Silly me, I thought I might take advantage of this rare opportunity to swim in the Pacific. It had been years since I had done that down near Los Angeles. So I brought a towel down dozens of stairs to the beach below. There were several large rocks. But I thought there should be a swimming area somewhere down there. The only people there were walking around fully clothed. I at least waded a bit. But the water was very cold. And that surprised me since it had all summer to warm up. So I walked around with brief moments in the water. And that was my “in the ocean” experience for now. That wasn't exactly what I hoped for.

Trinidad Beach

It was now getting to be late afternoon with many miles to go. The shortest, and originally planned, route would go through the mountains to Redding, California and then down to Sacramento. But it was going to be dark. So the scenic route had little appeal. And I had driven nearly continuous curves all day long with all kinds of 15-70 M.P.H. curves without guardrails. So I chose major roads down to the Bay Area.

Rather than taking time to fix something to eat, I stopped for fast food. I had not eaten a Carl’s Jr. Western Burger since 1985. They still make them. And they are still good. If I remember right, it has bacon, barbecue sauce, and an onion ring on it.

Eventually I got down to the Bay Area where I could find a major road headed east to Sacramento. As I approached Sacramento, I got on the start of U.S. highway 50. That is a destination road for more of my 50^th birthday trip. The sign said Ocean City, Maryland is only 3,073 miles ahead on highway 50. I thought briefly about doing that and throwing out the other plans. But I stayed the course. Either way, I needed to head east.

It was already late. About 1:00 a.m., I see the sign “Curves next 30 miles”. Normally, this would sound fun. But at this point, miles of curves in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the very early morning aren’t quite so appealing. But there really isn’t any alternate route at this point. So I carried on. I could see enough in the moonlight to know this area is probably very scenic in daylight. There were plenty of curves at 30 M.P.H. or slower. I only saw a couple deer crossing at one place. Traffic was light. And there was no snow yet. One of the highest points along the way was Echo Summit at 7,382 feet. I saw signs for ski resorts and other tourist attractions.

Coming down the mountain, I was able to buy gas at a “closed” gas station with pumps still on. And I arrived at South Lake Tahoe around 3:30 a.m. From there, I made my way up to Reno, Nevada. I got to Reno around 4:30 a.m. Surprisingly, I wasn’t that terribly tired. I guess the “fun” road had kept me awake.

I had to get up early. So all I needed was a place to nap for an hour or so. After scouting out some parking possibilities and looking for any Mazda dealers on auto dealer row (I saw none.), I settled for a casino parking lot. They had plenty of lights and security cameras. I set a wake-up alarm. And I leaned over on the seat to rest my eyes for a bit.

Day 6 - Washington and Oregon Coast

The day started out with some photos of the stream near my tent. It was still fairly early. I was learning that although mountains are nice for many things, they do block sunlight early and late in the day. So morning photos in the valleys may be mostly in the shade.

Better view than a motel parking lot (at least for me, on this day)

I got back on U.S. 2 headed west once again in west-central Washington. I was still in parts of the Cascade Mountains. But on this particular stretch, there seemed to be few easy photo opportunities. There was mountain shade. And power lines followed the road most of the way. So I didn’t really get hardly any photos of the Cascades. Maybe I will next time.

Cascade Mountains

I soon arrived in Everett, Washington. I attempted to follow U.S. 2 to the end. At least one map showed it following local city streets for a few blocks to the bay. I spent several minutes trying to find a sign on one of the streets. I found none. I backtracked some. And the best I can figure out, the highway now ends at the interchange with the I-5 freeway. But on the side streets I was able to see a few Navy ships in the harbor. Even though the water in Everett is connected to the ocean, the wide open Pacific Ocean is several miles further west.

After going west for several days, it was now time to head south. Just for fun, I had earlier prayed for sunshine in Seattle and refreshing rains for the desert. And as I drove through, it was indeed a rare bright sunny day in Seattle.

Drive-by shot of the Space Needle

To save time I stayed on the freeway for a while as I headed south. At Eugene, Oregon, I headed west once again towards the Oregon Coast of the Pacific Ocean. It was a fast, twisty drive. That was fun. I really hadn’t expected mountains between I-5 and the ocean. So that was a surprise.

At 6:15 p.m. I arrived in Florence, Oregon. It was named after my grandmother. Well, not really. But it was a fun name anyway. Near Florence, I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time in over 25 years. It was foggy. But it was still fun to see.

I was too late for the paid sea lion caves attraction. So I headed south along the coast on the 101 (U.S. highway 101) looking for a place to sleep.

It was interesting to see fresh water lakes very close to the ocean. There were numerous sand dunes as well. This area may need a return visit for me.

There were a few camping options. But the most convenient one was Carter Lake Campground in Dunes City, Oregon. It is always fun to find places with family names. I have a nephew named Carter. The campground was near a small lake and several sand dunes. I climbed a dune to get phone reception and for a better view. But I could not see or hear the ocean from that spot.

A site named after my 7 R sisters has to be good!

View from the nearby dune

View down towards the camp site

Random plant (I have no idea what it is. But it is strong enough to survive on a sand dune.)

Doing Time in Leavenworth (Washington)

In central Washington, is the small town of Leavenworth. I just happened to be driving through on my U.S. highway 2 route. Those few minutes were enough to stir my interest.

One of the first things to get your interest upon entering Leavenworth is the architecture. It is European like an old Bavarian Alpine village. The downtown area is definitely unique.

I also noticed some of the signs. Even some of the national companies had modified their logos for the town. I, personally, have a pretty strong interest in respecting logos and trademarks. So it was quite interesting to see the McDonalds “M” much smaller and in a different typeface. Other stores and businesses had adapted as well. Without the normal logos, it was difficult to recognize some of the businesses. There must be something special going on in this town to have these companies willingly violate their own corporate branding standards to do business here.

There are many cities and towns that celebrate ethnic heritage. Most of these communities have kept emigrant traditions and traditional buildings for a century or longer. Locally, perhaps you have experienced some of the ethnic festivals. New Ulm, Germantown, and New Berlin have German background. Decorah Iowa has Norwegian things. Pella and Orange City in Iowa celebrate being Dutch. New Glarus Wisconsin is a “Little Switzerland.” Mora Minnesota has Swedish connections. And there are many more ethnic connections in the upper Midwest. I assumed Leavenworth was similar to these others.

Websites like http://www.leavenworth.org helped me learn general information about the area today. But as I learned more, for me, the history is much more intriguing. The story is not like all those other immigrant communities at all.

Critical Decisions With Great Risks

Like thousands of other small towns and cities across the country, Leavenworth appeared to be dying in the early 1960s. Railroad rerouting, industries leaving, and other factors had contributed to the decline over several years. Their future as a community looked grim.

Their story may sound familiar. At least from my observation, most struggling small towns pretty much die over time. The countryside has numerous unincorporated villages that are almost like ghost town shadows of their once more prosperous days. The local citizens are concerned. But hope is difficult to find with few feasible options for positive change.

Leavenworth was at a point needing change. One of the few points of success in the area was a restaurant. They had designed it with an Alpine theme. A friendly bear helped make the restaurant even more entertaining and popular.

The restaurant owner envisioned the possibilities if the whole town became attractive for tourists. A radical change was proposed. The LIFE (Leavenworth Improvement For Everyone) committee was formed. Business owners took great risks and expense in changing the architecture of their buildings for an Alpine theme. People began taking greater pride in their community. And little by little the town became more attractive as a unique destination and a special place to live. Some of the before and after photos at http://leavenworthhistory.com/ show dramatic changes to the buildings.

With Christmas festivals, Oktoberfest, and other seasonal events, thousands of people came to support the town and enjoy the unique atmosphere. Now two million people visit the town annually.

Transformation Waiting for Us

Most of my readers are not from Washington and will probably never visit Leavenworth. But I believe we can all find some inspiration from this story.

There may be villages and cities struggling near you. There are church congregations in decline all over the country. Perhaps you know of one or two. There are community organizations becoming less relevant in their area. There are businesses with dim futures. There may be relationships where we have given up hope that it can ever be better. And, individually, we may have parts of our lives badly in need of a revival.

What if we were open to drastic changes for the chance of something greater and better? Will we take risks? Do we believe that God is able to help bring about good things? Are we willing to let go of practices of the past and embrace new ways of success? Are we ready to dream? Do we dare have vision for a better world? Will we create an environment where people are encouraged to share fresh ideas and insights?

Are we willing to join together with others focusing on what is good and what good things are possible? Or will we settle for the easy route of complaint and hopelessness?

There are numerous situations like Leavenworth, Washington. We can assume the past struggles must inevitably lead to more of the same or worse conditions. Or we can make choices for a new future. Are we willing to change our ways and have hope once again?

Some Leavenworth references:

http://leavenworthhistory.com/ - photos and videos telling the transformation story

http://www.leavenworth.org/ - Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce site

http://www.leavenworthwa.net/leavenworth-history.php

http://www.accidentalbavarian.com/History.php

http://www.alpenroseinn.com/leavenworthHistory.html

Day 5 - Washington

Waking up to 43 degrees was a good reminder that it is now September. Before leaving Lewis and Clark National Forest and the Marias Pass Continental Divide in Montana, I checked out the memorials there.

One is a Washington Monument replica honoring Theodore Roosevelt. Another one honors an old landowner there. And one honored John Stevens, a civil engineer who had the tough task of finding a railroad route through the mountains for the Great Northern Railroad, a railroad with some Minnesota ties (in more ways than one). I know a great civil engineer too.

It’s mostly all downhill from here to the Pacific. Now would be a good time to revise the route if necessary. But I thought I could still do the planned route and still get to Reno, Nevada by Friday night. So I continued on highway 2 through several more miles of Montana, a bit of northern Idaho and into the state of Washington. The Check Engine light stayed off almost the entire day. It came back on leaving a rest area in the evening.

The mountain scenery was pleasant. There were some nice little lakes too. Unlike around here, some of the lakes did not have a house or cabin every 100 feet.

The wide open grain fields of Montana and eastern Washington were nice too.

In central Washington near Wenatchee I passed near several orchards with Washington apples and other fruits. One advantage of a packed car is that a person isn’t tempted to stop and buy things. So I kept moving west.

As I was driving through Leavenworth, Washington, I was impressed with the old European architecture. It looked like an interesting place to revisit someday. I will write more about Leavenworth separately.

An interesting miles-long rock face

Moon rising in the Cascade Mountains

The day ended in the Snoqualmie National Forest with a quiet campsite within the sound of the Beckler River.