Category Archives: Road Trip

Our Version of Isolation

Isolation is a relative term. We live way out west in rural Washington and it can feel pretty remote sometimes, but during this period of self-imposed seclusion, it has been a blessing. We have friends living in city apartments and their idea of isolation and ours are two very different things. Even though we can’t hug and kiss friends and love ones, as long as we take precautions and avoid people, our mobility is in no way hindered. We have taken to long solitary walks on the beach. A beach that, now free of tourists and tire tracks, feels somehow more vast and expansive, and still has small untouched details.

Road Trips

Yes, like all good Americans, we just couldn’t wait to get out on the open road, at least for the day. So we packed a lunch, filled the gas tank, loaded up the face masks, latex gloves and hand sanitizer and set out on a little excursion to some very small towns where there just aren’t many people around in the best of times.

Fort Stevens, Oregon

Fort Stevens was an American military installation built near the end of the Civil War to help protect the mouth of the Columbia River. Now it’s a small settlement built around a military history museum.

Fort Stevens is named for former Washington Territory governor and slain Civil War general Isaac Ingalls Stevens. A little guy with a lot of courage. Isaac stood just 5′ 3″ . He is said to have died holding the Regimental Colors high and shouting “Highlanders! Highlanders! Follow your general!” while leading his men in a charge against Confederate forces at the Battle of Chantilly on September 1, 1862.

Brownsmead, Oregon

With the exception of a hand full of very creative souls there is not much in this tiny unincorporated community. It was built out on the flats on the south side of the Columbia River along Saspal Slough. Located on a bend in the river, Brownsmead’s chief claim to fame is as the northernmost settlement in the state of Oregon

Warrenton, Oregon

The area began developing as a small fishing community in the late 1840s. Warrenton was platted in 1889 and incorporated as a city in 1899. The town was built on tidal flats and relied on a system of dikes constructed by Chinese laborers to keep the it from flooding.

U.S. Coast Guard Sector Columbia River Warrenton, Oregon

St Francis De Sales Mission Hammond, Oregon

Raymond, Washington

Founded in 1907, Raymond was named for it’s first postmaster, L. V. Raymond. The downtown was originally built on slits, six feet above the tidal flats below. Starting as a rough and tumble lumber town Raymond fell on hard times but has now reinvented itself as Pacific County’s marijuana manufacturing hub.

To be continued. Stay safe.

The Road to Tonopah

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We left Bryce in the euphoria of early morning sunshine and set out on the long and uneventful journey from Utah across the center of Nevada. But, before we had crossed into the Silver State, ominous clouds began to form in the west. With the road stretching out across the desert before us, Wendi at the helm, we plunged head long into the maelstrom. For half the day she fought bravely through snow, sleet, hail, fog, rain, thunder, lightening and cattle.

“The storm is threatening my very life today. If I don’t get some shelter I’m going to fade away.” – RS’s

Tonopah, Nevada

By late afternoon the clouds parted revealing a welcomed oasis ahead. Tonopah, Nevada may not be paradise but it has everything people in our predicament could want; beer, buffalo wings, a bed and a 3,275 lb meteorite.

Rags to Riches

Legend has it that sometime around 1900 prospector Jim Butler went looking for his perpetually wandering burro. Having finally discovered the disobedient creature hiding under a ledge he picked up a rock in frustration but before hurling it at the beast noticed it was unusually heavy. He had stumbled upon the second-richest silver strike in Nevada history. Jim Butler, named the settlement, from what is thought to be Shoshone for “hidden spring”.

In 1902, a some time buckaroo and cattle drover, 24-year-old George Wingfield arrived in Tonopah. He dealt faro-cards at the Tonopah Club. Once he had a small bankroll, he talked Jack Carey, owner of the club, into taking him in as a partner. Wingfield began investing his profits in mines and by 1906 was worth more than $30 million.

The Mizpah Hotel

We’re staying at the historic Mizpah Hotel which sprung up in 1907 during the great Nevada silver boom. When it was completed the following year, the five story building was the tallest in Nevada. This high class hotel’s bar and restaurant was the center of social and economic activity in Tonopah all during those heady boom days. Many political and mining notables of the day frequented the bar that boasted boxing promoter Tex Rickard and future heavyweight boxing champ Jack Dempsey as bouncers.

The Lady In Red

“Lady in Red” – Charles Webster Hawthorne

It was in the 1920s when Rose, the lady in Red, was murdered in room 501 of the Mizpah Hotel. Stories vary but the most excepted version of the gruesome event suggests that Rose’s husband returned to their room after having missed his train only to discover his wife had been in bed with another man. The husband flew into a jealous rage and savagely stabbed and strangled Rose.

She still haunts the hotel, whispering in men’s ears and leaving pearls from her broken necklace on guest’s pillows.

Bryce Canyon

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The snow was already falling as we entered Bryce Canyon. It would continue to come down sporadically for the next two days. The snow was punctuated with magnificent sunbreaks. Each one would have us dash off to the next lookout point to discover another amazing vista.

The park has hundreds of trails that lead down into the various canyons. Most are weather dependent. Before you head down into the rocks you might want to have a quick look at James Franco’s great film “127 Hours”, just so you know what you might not want to do.

The Land of The Hoodoos

These spires and ones similar show up in various places around the globe and, as you can imagine, there is a lot of science and geology around their formation, but one thing they all have in common is that they are truly magical.

“Before there were humans the Legend People lived in that place. There were many of all kinds – birds, animals and lizards, but they had the power to make themselves look like people. For some reason the Legend People in that place were bad, so bad that Coyote turned them all into rocks. You can see them in that place now; some standing in rows, some sitting down, some holding onto others. This is the story the people tell.”

Indian Dick – Paiute elder – 1936