Morning wrestling at Maryhill State Park, Washington Typist: Bethany
Ah, the joys of camping! At 5:30AM, I woke to the sound of rain drops and scrambled out of the tent to put the dog beds and toys back in the van. By 7AM the sun was out and it was too hot to be in the tent one minute longer. Then at around 8:30AM there were dark clouds rolling in again and I had to pick up the pace in order to get the tent down and the van packed before the rain came back. The campground was almost empty by 10AM and although I also hurried to take camp down I also relished being welcomed back to Washington by this typical bipolar weather.
Ah, the joys of camping! At 5:30AM, I woke to the sound of rain drops and scrambled out of the tent to put the dog beds and toys back in the van. By 7AM the sun was out and it was too hot to be in the tent one minute longer. Then at around 8:30AM there were dark clouds rolling in again and I had to pick up the pace in order to get the tent down and the van packed before the rain came back. The campground was almost empty by 10AM and although I also hurried to take camp down I also relished being welcomed back to Washington by this typical bipolar weather.
A lovely view of the Columbia River from our campsite at Maryhill State Park
I have never stayed at the Maryhill State Park campground before and I had mixed feelings about it. I reserved our spot because it had a view of the Columbia River but in retrospect I think I should have looked for a spot with shade and a bit more privacy. The campground is basically a field with scattered trees and lined with campsites. The parks department has put small fence sections in at some sites to improve privacy but our site was still the least private we had our entire journey. What the campground loses in privacy, though, it makes up for in friendliness. Everyone, the staff and fellow campers, were very sociable and the campground was full of people camping with their pets. If there was anyone there without a dog, they had at least one cat in their RV and we even met a traveling Meyers parrot (which made us miss Leo very much!)
Wilhelm & Huxley with Zoe, a Meyers Parrot from Edmonds, Washington
We had a very short drive ahead today, the shortest of our entire cross-country trip. We probably could have pushed on and gone home instead of spending the night on the Columbia River but I wanted a celebratory welcome back to our home state (which we got with the moon rise over the river) and a leisurely last leg home. Unfortunately, rain and heavy weekend traffic our entire route made our journey quite a bit less leisurely than desired. Fortunately, the first mountain I ever loved, Mount Saint Helen's, welcomed us home from below the clouds as we left Maryhill State Park and the all rest of the scenery on our drive was epically Cascadian- soggy and foggy in all shades of gray, green, red and brown. Just gorgeous!
Day seven drive from Maryhill State Park, Washington home to Seattle: 223 miles
A little West of Ellensburg, Washington is a small town called Thorp and we followed the signs from I-90 to their historic grist mill. This was the last pleasant surprise on our cross-country journey. I tend to be the kind of person who greatly appreciates natural wonders when I travel but since 'R' Blood on the Tracks Boys and I have explored many historic places on our trip, I have discovered a new fondness for historic points of interest. In particular, the Thorp Grist Mill was a lovely, pet-friendly stroll through an important little piece of Washington State history.
 Crossing the mill creek |  Checking out the old mill |
Thorp Mill, circa 1883; the only remaining mill in Washington that converted from a stone buhr mill to a roller mill
After spending over three hours to cross Snoqualmie Pass, we were all ready to be done traveling. Still, I could not resist just one more stop to celebrate our return. (No one can resist Seattle's world famous skyline!) The dogs enjoyed a little rainy stroll around our familiar neighborhood park but were a bit in shock when they were set loose in their very own yard. I think they forgot we lived here! I let them sniff around the yard a bit but I could hardly wait to get them all inside for a bath. We had 15 states and almost 7,000 miles worth of yuck to wash off. Needless to say we all slept well and, despite the baths, and we were all glad to be HOME.
Brychwyn, Huxley & Wilhelm, Continental & International Travelers at Hamilton Viewpoint Park, Seattle, Washington
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