David Rosebaugh's Blog

After unwinding for a couple of weeks after getting home, I decided to publish a small travelogue of our West coast trip for anyone wanting a few more pictures with short captions. Just so you know, it’s a 6 MB file.

West Coast Trip – 2010

We’re home after a 33-day road trip to the west coast. The last day we were reminiscing about the “top 50″ moments of the trip. One of the top five was the Cascades of northern Washington. The route is fairly new, Washington 20, and includes rushing rivers, alpine meadows, reservoirs, and of course, snow beside the road in June. Here is one of the reservoirs, which is a deep blue-green because of silt from the surrounding rocks.

Our destination on the east side of the Cascades was Winthrop, Washington, a charming town redecorated in a Western theme for the sake of the tourists. We camped at the local KOA, where we had a great view of the rushing Methow River. Jessica took a couple of photos of the happy couple.

Jessica wanted to rent a kayak almost every time we found a rushing river. Fortunately, our last day included a stop at Ruttger’s Pine Mountain Resort, which included free use of kayaks on the lake. At the first opportunity, Jessie headed out to explore.

Before heading home, we stopped at the factory for Scamp trailers. We have taken two marvelous trips to the west coast in a 2005 trailer we bought from a friend. But Deb has dreamed of having a bathroom and air conditioning, so we traded our old faithful trailer for a new 2010 with the amenities. Here it is, parked in our back yard the evening we got home.

We’re still unpacking four days later, but it won’t be long until we start dreaming of the next adventure.

We’re getting ready to head back east to Minnesota, after a marvelous time on the west coast. From California we headed for Oregon, stopping in Bend en route to the coast. We missed a storm on the coast, arriving to sunshine a day after Waldport had experienced driving rain off the ocean. Here is the view from our campsite.

Further north, we stopped at a beach for Jessie.

After picking up Sarah at the Seattle airport, we took a ferry to Victoria, BC. Our campground here was in the city, directly across the harbor from downtown. Our view was of a neighborhood of what they call “floathouses,” which are houses floating on water. Some have boats docked at the door. Here is the house we saw from our dining room window.

Earlier this week we toured the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia. Sarah is considering both after high school graduation next  year. Here is the rose garden at UBC, with the bay beyond and the mountains in the background.

We left May 20 for a month-long trip to the West Coast, similar to the marvelous trip we made a year ago. This time we brought Jessica, our 14-year old, and her Shiba Inu puppy, Lucy. Here are Jessie and Lucy traveling in style.

We stopped in Denver to see friends, then drove west to Moab, Utah. Just east of Moab we drove along the Colorado River, and marveled at the beauty of the canyon.

Although we had planned to stop in Yosemite, the Tioga Pass was still closed because of snow, so we detoured through Tahoe and Sacramento. While visiting family and friends in the Bay Area, we camped on the Pacific Ocean south of Half Moon Bay. This KOA had a great  restaurant surrounded by wild flowers.

Our son Jon just began working as a software engineer at Google, and he treated us to lunch on the Google campus. Lunch is free to all employees. Here is the outdoor eating area.

In 1971 I married Deborah Lee Schroeder, and life has never been the same! One of the many blessings of Deborah has been her mother, Lillie Schroeder, who recently went to be with the Lord. We flew to Vancouver for her memorial service, a happy-sad time for all of us. Here is a picture of young Lillie.

Here is her family at the memorial service – Peter Schroeder, husband, Mike Schroeder, son, Ev Schroeder, daughter-in-law, and Deb, daughter.

Mike has been a pastor for many years, and planted the church in Maple Ridge where we held the memorial service. Mike is now working for the Salvation Army in Maple Ridge. Here are Dad, son, and daughter during a tour of the Salvation Army.

One of our most treasured connections on this trip was with one of Deb’s cousins, Steve Schroeder. Steve planted and pastored a church east of Vancouver for many years, and now serves as President of the Christian Ministers Association of Canada. We met Steve and his wife Sylvia for lunch, and enjoyed talking about many common interests.

Finally, we did a little sightseeing while visiting with Deb’s Uncle Harvey and Aunt Elsie Schroeder. We drove to White Rock, BC, just north of the U.S. border, and enjoyed lunch overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Our son Jon recently moved to BC, and we enjoyed seeing him all week long.