Swamps to Glaciers!

Ferndale was not in the original itinerary; we had planned to spend the week touring Northern Exposure Country near Roslyn and Cle Elum, but for a variety of reasons we changed our plan last minute and decided to go north to the Canadian border instead. We ended up having a pretty nice week! Wetlands, low tide, volcanos, glaciers, swimming, BBQ, cribbage, flower photography, and passport applications, oh my! 

(Clicking on these should bring them up full-size)

What makes men want to dunk their heads in icy water is a complete mystery, 

but does provide for a lot of laughs and general entertainment.

Sweetly goofing off at the passport office!

Goodbye, Marblemount

This week did not turn out at all like we had planned. Even without an actual plan! Rhanna's concussion was quite a bit worse than we originally thought, and she spent the entire week resting in bed. So there aren't a lot of photos from this week in the North Cascades. I didn't take any photos of her miserable condition, but here's Joxer, who also slept all week, as cats do. ;)

Father's Day was not an impressive affair, as holidays go, but when every day is lived the way you want to be living it, there's less pressure to make some days more spectacular than others. Thane did spend an entire day working on an impressive Minecraft fireworks display as a gift for dad though. :)

watching the grand finale!

So mainly this week felt like a lot of tip-toeing around to keep quiet for Rhanna's recovery, but we did play some card games, and Gwynnie took a trip into "town" (Concrete, WA, population 705) with Abe for some groceries.

Plus, it rained BUCKETS all week, with the exception of the first day, so even had Rhanna not been injured, our touring would probably have been limited. We did have a small swingset in the "yard" and were able to see a bald eagle and some black-tailed deer from the comfort of our living room.

Gwynnie and Emrys both became Junior Rangers this week. Rhanna and Thane loved this program when they were younger, but are abstaining this time around. The younger ones are jazzed though!

We just passed our first-month anniversary of living in the RV, and we all love it. It feels very homey and natural to be living this way, but it isn't without its hazards. We have all suffered numerous cuts, scrapes, and burns (not to mention concussions and whiplash) learning to live in a miniaturized home. I mean, really, an inordinate amount of minor injuries. And with so many creatures living in such a small space, the cleaning is continuous. Each space has to be transformed into day- and night-use, and our efficiency in packing means that, usually, to get something you need, you have to remove twelve things from the space in order to reach it, then put everything back. LOL. Rhanna and I are still on the Auto-Immune Protocol, so at least two (if not three) separate meals are required three times a day, and nothing we eat is bought prepared. Our tiny oven, stove, and fridge means that this is much more of a hassle than it was previously (if that's even possible). In another post, I'll show you how I have all the cupboards organized.

Still, it's all positive and good. The sensation of driving your entire HOME from one place to another is surreal; you are in a totally different place, but everything is the same! A lot of work, yes, but we lived in a gorgeous forested National Park this week, and are heading to the coast tomorrow, so no complaints!

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Marblemount, WA:

Animals observed: bald eagle, black-tailed deer, tons of little birds

North Cascades National Park

It's raining buckets here just outside of North Cascades National Park, so there's time for a mid-week update. The wi-fi here is iffy, and there's no cell coverage at all, so it may take a while to upload any photos, lol. We have this entire little RV park to ourselves this morning, with the exception of a really cool woman named Al who is cycling solo across the country (destination Maine: http://www.alsbucketlistride.com/ for her story); all of her gear is too wet to pack today, so we're actually going to give her a lift as soon as we have a little break in the weather; these steep hills are too dangerous in this rain!

Casita Lincoln

Our first days here, though, were gorgeous, and the kids enjoyed playing in the new yard. :)

Yesterday we journeyed up the road a dozen miles or so to the National Park

It feels so great to be back in the mountains. Our decade in the Sierras truly made us into Mountain People, and we have been breathing a collective sigh of relief to be back in this type of terrain. They call this the American Alps, and it's beautiful here! The Skagit River is glacier-fed (North Cascades NP is home to nearly half the glaciers found in the lower 48 states!) and its turquoise color is amazing.

Foxglove season in Washington! They're everywhere!

The museum was fun for the kids, especially 

Gwynnie, who exclaimed, "Hey! I'm starting to like this 

place!" (She's still having some challenges with all 

the transitions from one too-fun place to another.)

most of the peaks around here are apparently named for food:

Chocolate, sourdough, bacon, the works! (hungry goldminers!)

who doesn't love a banana slug?

Gwynnie and Em loved the lightning area

Em loved this snowy owl - we don't have room in the RV to buy lots 

of souvenirs, but we can take photos with them!

Thane taking in the scenery

wildflowers everywhere; the lupine is beautiful

Rhanna actually had a mild concussion all day, after a run-in with the heavy basement 

door in the morning, but she's feeling better today, thank goodness. Still smiling! 

The clouds were coming in at this point, so it's hard to see the top of this glacier-topped 

mountain, but this was a stunning view!

Em knows how to look for the handicapped-accessible sign to see which little hikes we can take - he's chosen our next destination (which we will check out tomorrow, hopefully, under clearer skies!)

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PS!

Rhanna says I was terrible mis-informed about the mundane nature of her concussion:

"So I thought you would all be interested to here the story of how I got a mild concussion yesterday. It's a crazy story! So we arrived at the North Cascade National Park, and I took one look at the beautiful Mount Baker and decided that I needed to climb it (Since the mountain and I have the same name. Plus I wanted a new profile picture of me on top of a mountain.) so we hired this (cute) French park ranger name Jacques-Pierre to take me up the mountain. We were almost to the top of the mountain when an avalanche came rushing toward us. We tried to get out of the way but Jacques-Pierre was struck by a boulder and knocked unconscious, So I had to dig him out of the snow, where a stray clump of ice hit me on the head momentarily stunning me. Then I carried him to the shelter of a nearby cave, but it happened to be housing a family of bears and wolverines and bear-wolverine hybrid cubs. It was almost nightfall and we didn't have any supplies to keep up warm for the night so I carried Jacques-Pierre down the mountain on my shoulders, and we reached the ranger station at midnight where I set Jacques-Pierre down and called an ambulance to take him to the hospital. Then I walked back to the RV where everyone else was asleep and being so full of adrenaline I baked throughout the night, until I was so utterly exhausted I fell asleep on the counter and woke up with a dreadful headache and lots of cookies. 

True story!!"  ~Rhanna