We were going to follow U.S. Hwy 2 across the rest of the northern tier

 

 

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

 

Northeastern Washington

 

 

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.

 

Curlew Lake State Park

 

 

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.

 

Over to the dry side

 

 

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.

 

Counties

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

Rasar State Park

 

 

We were only there for one night, but it was so nice it warrants two trip reports.

 

Another look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evening light

 

 

Before we left Bay View State Park.

 

 

 

We decided to follow Washington Highway 20 from its westernmost point to its easternmost.  For that, we drove to Fort Casey State Park, which is not exactly the western end, but it’s the ferry terminal to get to the westernmost end.  We could go across to Port Townsend, and Discovery Bay from there, but that would be adding two ferry rides to the day, to cover an additional 13 miles of road, and we’ve been on that road plenty of times already, so we’re declaring Fort Casey to be the western end for our purposes today.

 

2026 Summer Trip Map Link

 

From Fort Casey, we followed Hwy 20, with a side trip on Hwy 20 Spur to the Anacortes Ferry Terminal, then on to Rasar State Park, which is actually not very far from Bay View State Park.  Wow.  We hit the jackpot on this campsite.