Glamping in the Pacific NW Autumn Beauty

 

Below the clouds in Mt. Rainer NP

If you time it right, New England has its beautiful red autumns and Colorado has its golden aspens.  And with good timing, Oregon and Washington can be a fall color delight of red, orange, yellow and coniferous greens.  We lucked out this year with a September Central Oregon Airstream rally and an October Washington State road trip.  

View of Mt. Jefferson from the 8-mile perimeter loop

Smith Rocks State Park in Central Oregon never disappoints.  The rocks change color by the hour, season, and hiking route.  We camped nearby at Cove Palisades State Park in late September with fellow Airstreamers over a long weekend.  Daughter Feruza from New York scored a dirt-cheap ticket and joined us.  It was so nice to hang with her and see Airstream friends we haven’t seen in over a year.  

 

Smith Rocks and Crooked River

Cycling the Rim Overlook above Lake Billy Chinook 

We love to travel in the autumn, and this year was no different.  Home from the UK for just a month, we got antsy for a road trip and decided on some new and familiar places in Washington State.  (Thanks, Tim and Pam for the inspiration!).  So, without an itinerary we headed north and took it day by day. The weather was cool and sometimes rainy, but the colors were near perfect--especially when we couldn't safely pull over to take a photo of them. 

In retrospect, we stayed farther west than on past trips

 

Glamping in Morton's city park,
a good base camp to explore Mt. Rainer. 

The new part of this trip was the White Pass after Mt. Rainier NP, the Yakima River Gorge, Leavenworth, and the Olympic coast.  We skipped Lake Chelan and Bonneville Dam because we have been there, but I highly encourage reading our 2014 posts about them, as they are truly worth a visit.  (Lake Chelan) (Bonneville Dam)

Close your eyes and imagine you're seeing
Mt. Rainer in the 35 degree fog

We found Leavenworth to be too touristy for our taste, but we loved hiking the Icicle River Gorge and the surrounding countryside. 

The road to the Icicle Gorge trailhead

Pearrygin Lake State Park 

North Cascades National Park was beautiful, but as with our last trip, the weather wasn’t.  Thus, no extra nights or hikes as we had hoped.  But we had a nice night camping near the Skagit River in the Sedro-Wooley city park with hookups and a good cell connection to stream shows we missed.

 

Climbing to the 5400' Washington Pass
in North Cascades NP 

To the sunset, just before the storm

Other than a memorable 2005 backpack trip with my brother and nephew on the Olympic Coast, we hadn’t been to the Olympic Peninsula in over two decades.  We couldn’t believe the sprawl from Sequim to Port Angeles.  Or the many speeding log trucks.  That said, it was beautiful in the rain as Hwy 101 took us out of Port Angeles toward the coast winding through Indian reservations and Olympic National Park.  We enjoyed a cozy night as a coastal storm battered the trailer.

The Columbia, looking west.

 This year marks our 10^th year of owning an Airstream. So, as we headed toward home, we thought it was only appropriate to camp in Skamokawa County Park on the Columbia River, the site of our first Airstream Rally.  It was the last place Lewis Clark camped in 1805 before sighting the Pacific Ocean.  Compared to last summer, camping is now sociable again with friendly neighbors. 

 

As with all trips for us, it’s good to go and very good to be back home again.  You can see more photos of these trips on my  Facebook page.  We wish you a colorful autumn as Thanksgiving approaches.  

“What We Can, While We Can!”

Afternoon view from our deck

Morning double rainbow surprise

Bath, Oxford, Liverpool, and More

On the left you can see photos of the Fab Four
getting haircuts

 It’s hard to believe that we arrived home one week ago after 36 hours of travel.  It’s nice to be back, but we already miss Hazel, our 17-month-old grandchild.  After the one-month lease on our Airbnb expired, we used our remaining 10 days to play tourist.  It felt so good to get out of London.

Bath

We took a crowded train to Bath, site of the 1^st to 5^th century Roman baths.  It’s also the place where wealthy aristocrats wintered, where Jane Austin had spent time, and the site of weekend raucous bachelor/bachelorette parties, which explained the crowded train scene.  The baths were truly amazing, especially when one thinks about the great distance from Rome, the size, engineering, and artistry.

Overlooking the Roman baths

 We did something unique—at least for us.  We rented E-bikes and rode about 38 miles to Bristol and back along the Avon River and an old railroad bed, initially built in 1844.  The railroad closely follows a canal tow path bult 100 years earlier.  The bikes were fun, but not needed on a crowded, level railroad grade.   Maybe we’ll get electric bikes when we get older.

Ready to ride the canal and railway path to Bristol

 You can a few more bath photos at this link.

 Cirencester

Before oxford, we spent a night in a 160-year-old former pub in Cirencester.  This was a delightful town and one of the earliest Roman settlements in Britain.  We caught the Monday farmers market, did a walking tour, and visited the town’s very well-done archeological museum.  I had my first try of fish and chips, and they turned out to be my worst meal of the whole trip.  A spectacular French dinner that evening made the world (and my greasy mouth) feel right again.

View from our double deck bus from Cirencester
to Oxford

Oxford

We rode a double-deck bus on small roads through dozens of small towns to get to Oxford.  Those drivers are heroes to us they way they can navigate tight spaces.  Now that we’ve been to Oxford, we want to watch the Harry Potter movies again.  What a magical, fun, and historic city!  Its gothic buildings can be—and often are—a movie set. Bookstores, specialty shops, and good eateries are everywhere. And then there is 1100-year-old Oxford University, which dominates the city.  It consists of 38 colleges, such as Exeter, Christ Church, Trinity, and Merton.  It’s the alma mater of J. R. Tolkien, Lewis Carol, C.S. Lewis, many prime ministers, and Rhoades Scholars. We took a guided walking tour of the university and later bought our way into an audio tour of the magnificent Christ Church campus, the site and/or inspiration of several Harry Potter scenes. 

The dining hall that inspired the
Harry Potter Hogwarts set

The Christ Church College of Oxford University

 

You can see more photos of Oxford and the Christ Church buildings here.

 Liverpool

A fun magical mystery tour

We found Liverpool to be gritty, yet energetic, and friendly.  And what’s a trip to Liverpool without a pilgrimage to many Beatles landmarks?  We engaged Ian, a cabbie, musician, and self-proclaimed Beatles expert, to show us the sites in his tricked out electric cab.    Ian gave us the back story on their childhood and teen years as he showed us their homes, schools, venues, and song inspirations.  Yes, Penny Lane exists.  The barber shop and bus stand are still there, but the fire station is being converted into a residential condo.

Beyond the Beatles, we visited a gigantic cathedral, ate at Cuban and Indian restaurants, and enjoyed Liverpool’s redeveloped waterfront and maritime museum, which had very interesting Titanic and Lusitania exhibits.  The city is undergoing a transformation from a hardscrabble industrial and port city to a cultural, educational, service and tourist economy.  In fact, it is one of the 100-most visited cities by international tourists.  The scars of WWII are still present, including a bombed home across the street and a few doors down from where Ringo was born.  Here is a link to moreLiverpool photos.  The homes are in the order of Ringo (2), Paul, John, and George.

View of Liverpool museum from Maritime Museum

 London and Hazel

We returned to London for two nights for our final ‘Hazel fixes’ and Covid tests timed for our departure.  It has taken nearly six weeks, but she really warmed up to us.  She even asks for us during meals and story time with Shanti and Alan.  Now, that’s progress! Dropping her off one last time at day care was emotional for all three of us.  We can summarize some aspects of our trip by paraphrasing the credit card commercial:

• Hours on the shuttle van and on the London tube:  8
• Hours on a plane:  32
• Hours at airports:  10
• Pieces of lost but eventually found luggage:  3
• Days in quarantine:  7
• Covid tests per person:  5
• Hours of lost sleep while on Hazel duty some nights:  numerous
• Money spent for outrageously high-priced coffees and meals:  too much
• Time spent with Hazel:  PRICELESS.

  “What We Can, While We Can”

Last day in London at the splash fountain

Best day care pick up ever!

A babycino and lattes in our previous London
neighborhood  

More noodles, mamma robin!

Our London Staycation

Are we residents or tourists? We’re not sure. 

Walking across the Millennium Bridge
on Kathy's birthday 

We’ve been here just over three weeks now.  We’ve seen a few typical tourist sites (more about them below), but we’ve mostly hung out with granddaughter Hazel, hosted dinners for her parents (Shanti and Alan) and their friends, and we have enjoyed the brief company of daughter Skyler from Boston.  

4.5 Kelemens at Kathy's 69th birthday
 party.  This was the first time that the
four of us have been together in three years.

Hazel has been both a joy and a challenge.  She’s warmed up to us nicely, especially with all the fun toys in our Airbnb.  It’s been so fun watching her vocabulary, physical skills, and intellect grow by the day.  

 

The joys of self-discovery

After a bath, looking
for Mommy

And who doesn't love to
splash in a puddle?

But she is very opinionated and now she’s become wary of us, as we can be her abductors who take her away from Mommy and Daddy.  She prefers ‘Nanna’ over ‘Grandpa,’ but we employ a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy and she is easily distracted. 

 

A long half-day at the zoo

Pub night with Skyler, giving Shanti
and Alan a much needed night
off.  We have yet to eat fish and
chips.

All of us have been mildly sick to one degree or another, to the point where Hazel cannot attend day care, or Shanti and Alan can’t get any sleep.  So, we are happy to help out and host her overnight, not losing too much sleep ourselves, but for our persistent allergy-related coughs and sore throats.  Our hats go off to single parents everywhere, as we don’t know how they do it alone.

 

Hosting an all-American barbeque for
10 of us, plus two babies.  China, Italy,
Ireland, UK, Poland, and the USA
were all represented.

We haven’t done as much sightseeing as originally planned, but that’s just fine.  While our house is old and dilatated, we love our neighborhood, about a 25–30-minute walk to Shanti and Alan’s place.  We are on a quiet street, but there are numerous mom-and-pop shops nearby for just about anything we need or want.  A few of the proprietors have befriended us and it is easy to strike up conversations.  Even some of the wine and liquor shops sell fresh produce.  We love the ethnic diversity of the area and hope to patronize some of the hole-in-the-wall places serving food from all over the world.  But meanwhile, it’s been fun to cook for ourselves with all these wonderful ingredients and eat in the backyard.

 

Enjoying London views from the
37-story Sky Garden skyscraper.
(Actually, it is rather dwarfed by
its newer neighbors.

This is our fifth trip to London since 2010 when Shanti was a grad student at the London School of Economics.  And it’s the first time we’ve seen some of the popular tourist sites.  
Our favorites were the Borough Market and the Winston Churchill Underground War Room and Museum.   But we also liked the Tower of London, the History of London museum, and the Tower Bridge.  Our least favorite was the Hampton Court Palace where Henry the VIII lived lavishly at the expense of many others.

 

Churchill's bedroom in the 
underground bunker.  Everything
was left exactly as it was, including
the original four sugar cubes from
a colonel in the map room.

Hampton Court Palace.  Originally built for
a cardinal, then it became one of Henry the VIII
and his six wives favorite palaces, and William II 
expanded and renovated it.  

London Tower Bridge

The engine room of the bridge

Where Henry the VIII's 
wives and others were 
beheaded

The White Tower within the
Tower of London, where we
got to see the crown jewels.

What’s next?  We get Hazel for a full day Saturday (as I did last Saturday) when Shanti and Alan look at some homes about an hour from here in the suburbs.  The prices for a three-bedroom home make Portland’s nicest neighborhoods look cheap by comparison.  London, with its high prices, noise, pollution, congestion, and suitable housing is wearing them down.  And us, too.  But on the positive side, it has plenty of nice parks and eateries, ethnic diversity, high energy, great public transportation, and lots of history.

 

On the 28^th we vacate our Airbnb and go to Bath, for a couple of nights, then Oxford, then back to London on the 4^th for two nights.  Originally, we were planning to hike the 100-mile Cotswold Way trail, but the logistics got too complicated, accommodations are scarce, and we didn’t feel in shape to go 15-20 miles a day.  Maybe on our next trip with more advance planning, conditioning, and the right packing.

  You can see more contemporaneous photos and posts on Facebook and Instagram.  But until our next blog, cheerio!

 

Outside the Tower of London,
about to be attacked by a raven

What We Can, While We Can!

 

Free in London

 

16 month old Hazel Hampson kelemen

Today we passed our third Covid test of the past seven days and no longer need to quarantine at our London Airbnb.  No more daily visits or calls from the NHS checking in on us.  We are free to wander about London together and anywhere else in the UK, but we still need to take one more test in two days and one 48 hours before we return to the States in early September.  

 

We were allowed to leave
quarantine to drop off our 
samples 2 miles away. 

The system works well,
but one has to be meticulous
about the procedures for drop
off and registration.

          

Getting here was a hassle, with our long ago-booked flight being canceled three times in the past few months and diverted to Huntsville AL because of Atlanta thunderstorms.  Our luggage arrived 48 hours after we did, but all is well now.  We are here to spend time with Hazel, our 16-month grandchild.  My how she has grown in so many ways since we last saw her in early May. 

 

That kid can really go through the blueberries!

And lots of other things

Our B&B for five weeks is a two-story town home on a quiet street in a very convenient and diverse neighborhood. It has child locks, a back yard, a nursery, and more toys than Hazel has ever seen in her short life.  Plus, a decent kitchen (important!) and a good bed (very important!). We love the mom-and-pop shops nearby.

Ours is the one with the giant palm bush

T

 

Around and around the block
until she falls asleep

So far, we have hosted Hazel for two sleepovers, and the first one gave Shanti and Alan their first chance since March 2020 for a date night.  And it was a reminder of just how much time, patience, sleep deprivation, and energy it takes to raise a toddler, especially for a Covid baby who hasn’t had much experience with adults and new situations.  That said, she’s an independently minded and charming toddler who has warmed up to us and who brings us much joy. 

Off to day care with Daddy

 

Special delivery by Mum Shanti

We celebrated our Freedom Day by going for a long walk together, a tapas lunch, and a visit to the well-done Museum of London history.  Best of all, it was free.  Also, a very quiet dinner alone tonight.  Going forward, we’ll drop Hazel off and pick her up at day care off and on (she needs its structure), go to parks with her, and host her on weekends so Shanti and Alan can resume their house hunting in suburbs about an hour from central London.  While it’s certainly not walking the Camino de Santiago or driving cross country, this is shaping up to be a very unique and fun trip for us.

 

And speaking of driving cross country, we never had time after we got home from our 8600-mile trip on July 2, but it was enjoyable and scenic, even northern Iowa and Nebraska.  We had a flat tire our last night, but better in camp than on the road. Even when we are unlucky, we are lucky.

 

Spencer and brother William on our deck

Just before we left, we hosted Skyler and Spencer who drove cross country from Massachusetts. Three of Spencer’s four siblings stayed across the street at an Airbnb and joined us for wine tastings and some fun meals together.  It’s so fun to hang with 30 somethings, and boy can they eat!

Skyler, Spencer, & Ry Ry heading back to Boston

                           “What We Can, While We Can”