We Move to Sister Roxy's - Skagit River Bridge Collapses

Today was another rainy, drippy day. We emptied the grey and black water tanks and flushed them out well this morning in preparation for a few days without a sewer connection. We left the Travel Inn Resort in Elma about noon and headed for my sister and brother-in-law's home just outside of Olympia.

Brother-in-law Rich had gone to Home Depot and picked up a 30 amp box for his shop, so we have electric and water. It was interesting to maneuver through the gate into their place and park over by Rich's shop. (It's going to be even more interesting to back out and get turned around when we leave...) It was raining pretty hard while we were getting parked. By the time we got the jacks down, the slides out, and the electricity hooked up, I was drenched.

Sister Roxy had a cup of hot tea ready for me when I got to the house -- along with a towel to dry my hair! So good to get to visit with her and see all the treasures she has accumulated from their travels to Africa, Panama and Italy (all since the last time I had been here!). We spent most of the afternoon catching up on both activities and family. Roxy made a crock pot of white chicken green chili for supper. It hit the spot on this rainy chilly day.

While we were talking and sort of half watching the news after dinner, we saw the news about the collapse of the I-5 bridge across the Skagit River between Mount Vernon and Burlington. The news broadcast said there were cars and people in the water. So of course, I immediately got on the phone and called Daughter Mary Mae, who lives in Mount Vernon with her family. The house phone line was busy; her cell phone immediately went to voice mail; but I finally got through on Son-in-law Scott's cell phone. They were all at home and fine -- in fact, they hadn't even heard about the bridge collapse yet.

From later reports, it sounds like there were three people rescued from the collapsed bridge and two were taken to the hospital and are in stable condition. It also sounds like an oversize truck load may have hit the upper portion of the bridge.

On To Chehalis

We continued our trip this morning on I-84 driving down the Columbia Gorge. It was a misty morning -- and our windshield is very dirty! -- but the springtime greens in the Gorge were beautiful.

I always get a kick out of these "haystack" rocks --

We eventually turned north on I-205 which led us to I-5. The drive north is always very pretty with lots of rivers and bridges to cross.

At Exit 71 we turned off to Chehalis RV Park, which is listed in our books as an Encore Park. I began to get suspicious when all of the signs started saying Thousand Trails. These are my very least favorite parks. They are generally quite large and sprawling and they DO NOT assign campsites! You have to drive around until you find an unoccupied one. Then you get yourself parked and then you let the gate people know your site number.

We wanted a pull-through site as we did not want to unhitch, plus we want an early start tomorrow. The gate guard showed me a couple of possible sites on the map. The roads are narrow and poorly marked, but we did find one way up at the far end of the park.

We had gotten a message from the Park Manager before we arrived, saying that he'd like to visit with us about membership... Sure enough, long about four o'clock this fellow showed up, knocking at the door, anxious to tell us about their "Zone" membership!

Tree Heart Ranch, Ltd.

We started out today on Interstate 5 heading towards Portland,

then cut off on Highway 205

to connect up with Interstate 84 and head east down the Columbia Gorge.

From I 84 we drove Hwy 14 through the Tri-Cities to Highway 395 --

Then Highway 21 to Rosenoff Road --

to Batum Road --

and up the lane to the ranch.