Milepost 1160:   Ashland, OR, to Olympia, WA

We have been on the road for six days now and have covered just about a fourth of our distant from Fillmore, California, to Denali, Alaska.  We have slowed down a couple of times to visit with friends and family that we haven’t seen in decades.  Great reunions!

The days are getting longer as we head farther north each day and it’s still almost three weeks to summer solstice.  Tomorrow our goal is to cross the border into Canada near Vancouver, British Columbia.

We have been enjoying a variety of campsites, from crowded line-ups with little privacy to the big woods in the middle of nowhere like where we are tonight near Olympia, Washington.

While we have been charging through the west coasts great cities, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, we have also blown right past some of the lower 48’s signature mountains:  Mt. Shasta, Lassen Peak, Crater Lake, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helen’s and Mt. Rainier.  I guess we are on a mission to get to the continent’s premier peak, Mt. McKinley (Denali).

I have hardly had the camera out yet, because I’ve got both hands on the wheel all day.  And when we finally stop to find a campsite each evening, we are usually near the freeway and don’t have time or energy to venture to the nearest attractions.

We may have to return at some future point and dedicate more of our attention to the bountiful world of beauty that blankets America’s west coast.  For this time, unfortunately, it’s mostly a means to an end.