Day 5 - 7

On the road again as we pack up from Missoula. Still not sure what it is about this place that we like, but it still has a strange allure for us. Maybe it's just far enough away and different enough to feel like a vacation. Maybe it's the fact that we always leave wanting to do something else. Whatever it is exactly, we will be back.
We got on the road before 11 and went hard at it, driving some 500km plus. This put us on the Columbia river, overlooking a gorge that dropped several hundred feet down. Ginko Petrified Forest was on the other side as well as our campsite at Wanapum State Park. The weather was hot! Luckily it was a short walk to the river for a rinse and no glacier run-off for this water. With the kids in bed we enjoyed an amazing display with a full moon and it's companion reflection, felt like old times for a few moments.
The next day we leisurely packed up with Dora getting in her hill run and me eating eggs. We each have our jobs I guess! I finished packing up while Dora took the kids back to the river/beach. A quick swim and off to the Interpretive center at Ginko. The fossilized wood was neat, but we read about a mold of a whole rhino! We'll have to come back to see that.
The rest of the drive was uneventful except for our detour to Roslyn, Washington or should I say Cicely, Alaska! For those of you that remember the show Northern Exposure, the town scenes were filmed in Roslyn. Dora and I got our picture by that famous mural in the opening credits.
The picture is pretty poor, I took a picture of a picture to get it on my Blackberry. I'll update it later with a better one.
The day finished with us running from a campground (due to mosquitoes, which you know your in trouble when they have a sign that warns you about them!) to arrive in Nason Creek. Right now I'm hiding under our tent typing this in the rain. I'm also enjoying the sound of thunder and the cool moist breeze!
Today we woke up to see Evan looking like he had chicken pox. Apparently the mosquitoes love him. After a morning of drying gear, running (for Dora) and extreme bocce we hit the road. After a bit of meandering we finally reached the coast, only to be greeted by a line-up for the ferry to Whidbey Island. After 2hr we were again on our way and off to our campsite at South Whidbey State Park. For the first time this trip I'm wearing pants and a long sleeve shirt and looking for more to put on! The cool ocean breeze is such a nice change. Tomorrow we are left with a short jaunt to Port Angeles and then Victoria. Here we come Canada.
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