Steve and Judy's Travels!

But the wildfire smoke turned us south.  We drove through Idaho into Montana and stopped for the night at Thompson Falls State Park.  It’s just a little park with no hookups, but it was wonderful!

Super quiet.  Friendly neighbors.  Shady.  A trail from our campsite a hundred yards right to the Clark Fork river.

We’d have stayed longer but we could only get that site for one night, and it was the best site.

A little pond with bullfrogs in it.

It was fun to hear them, but they’re not supposed to be there.  The sign said it was okay to eat them, but we didn’t.

2026 Summer Trip Map link

Roadside rest.  Hwy 20.

2026 Summer Trip Map link

Stopped at a KOA for the night.  It was nice enough, a forested hillside, but it was a busy holiday place for young families.  It felt like we camped for the night in the middle of a middle school playground.  Hey you kids, get off my lawn!

We were very close to the next-door neighbors, but they were wonderful.

We accomplished two goals with this leg of the trip.

We visited every county in the state of Washington.

And we drove Hwy 20 from the beginning at Fort Casey to the end in Newport, where it meets up with U.S. Hwy 2.

Still state-parking it as we can.  Hard to find state park spots on weekends, but we got this one.

2026 Summer Trip Map link

We were going to continue east along U.S. Highway 2, but the wildfire smoke has rolled in.  It makes for great sunsets, but we’re going to make up a new plan pretty soon.

The eastern slopes of the Cascades.

Across the North Cascades Scenic Highway, through the national park.

Scenic.  Yes.

Our favorite parts were the quiet walks in the deep forest.

…and the views from the top of Washington Pass.

Ultimately, down to a KOA in Winthrop where camping karma somehow happened again.   At a KOA!

Evening light.

2026 Summer Trip Map Link

Dry.  Yes.  Hot.  Yes.

We still haven’t been to all the counties in Oregon.  We did add two on our trip up the Columbia River Gorge this year though.

That top right county in Oregon, Wallowa; it’s not going to be easy.  There isn’t anything there.  I can only see two roads into it, and one of them is a dead end. 

Washington.  That’s different.  We’ve done great.  We had a bunch of counties to go.

We picked off one of them on the way up the coast.  We got seven more on the Columbia River Gorge trip.

Filling in the puzzle pieces.