Stewart

Leaving campsite, old one lane bridge, new two lane bridge

Another overcast day, but at least it is not raining. After driving south half an hour, we see a car towing a U-haul pulled over and we stop to see if we can help. We meet Anna in a car with Florida plates, where she is from, heading to a house she owns in Homer Alaska. She apparently topped off her radiator fluid (water) this morning and forgot to tighten the radiator cap. Well after ½ hour she was blowing steam and hot water all over the place. She stopped because it looked like smoke. She did let things cool down and refilled the radiator, but could not get the car to start. We use our jumper battery, so not to wear hers down, but no luck starting. Unfortunately there is no cell service for a couple hundred miles. She has Geico Roadside Service, so we offer to call at a place half an hour south where I think she started this morning, that has a Starlink for public use at their restaurant. She gave the same information to someone else heading in the other direction to also call Geico. 

I recommend that she set her watch alarm for two hours and don’t try to start the car until the timer goes off. My guess is water and steam got into some electronics or electrical stuff that needs time to dry out.

Half an hour later we stop at Tatogga Lake Resort.  We park and walk up to the restaurant, a very nice looking large log structure, but the sign says closed. As we start to walk away the owner comes to the door and says we are now open.  We say we would like to have lunch and use there Starlink.  They obviously had a number of morning customers for breakfast, but were not expecting lunch customers, since the breakfast dishes were piled up unwashed.  We ask what he has on the lunch menu and its just one item, beef stew.  We say that sounds good, we will have that. Linda and I get busy on the Starlink, she Facetimes her sister and I call Geico.

Tatogga Lake Resort

Geico Roadside Assistance is totally useless. I give the woman at Geico Anna’s information and repeatedly explain the situation and lack of cell service, but she insists that Anna has to call herself. I asked to speak to her manager, but am told he is not available, but will call me back, which never happens. 

Linda and I start to have our lunch and I bad month Geico Roadside Assistance for a minute then realized I did not hang up and thus giving my full opinion, unintendedly to the Geico gal.

Most passing cars stopped to ask Anna if there was anything they could, do, hopefully someone after us had an active Starlink that she could call from. 

Anyways we have an excellent lunch,the Beef Stew is really good. After lunch we have an interesting back and forth conversation about US politics with the owner.  Not sure what his news sources are out here over the internet, but he sighted a couple bogus items that had been promoted by Fox and Ruddy Gulliani. Hopefully he will confirm the facts I gave him.

Bear grazing

Anyways late afternoon we reach the junction of RT37 and RT37A to Stewart.  The mountains on both sides of the road to Stewart are covered in low clouds and fog. We head to the Municipal RV park near downtown Stewart. This area is definitely a temperate rainforest. Moss, like spanish moss, hangs from many of the trees. It looks like the Hoha Rainforest on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.

Stewart Municipal Campground

We have dinner at a Mexican restaurant, busy on a Saturday night for a town without a lot of dining options