JBLM

I've been on quite a few armed force bases  in the past year

• Camp Pendleton, CA
• Fort Irwin, CA
• LA Air Force Base, CA
• JBLM, WA
• Fort Lee, VA
• Fort Bragg, NC

JBLM = Joint Base Lewis McChord. And that's the base I'm closest to. So in its honor, some pictures I have:

This used to be the main entrance, before the need for a multiple lane entry. Behind is the entrance to JBLM Main. Exit 120 off of the I-5 takes you to JBLM. If you don't have a military ID or a guest pass, or JBLM means nothing to you, you took the wrong exit.

One of the many things I see/hear daily, even when I'm not on base. I believe this to be a Boeing CH-47 Chinook. I will verify with my sources.

One of the views on base. When it's nice in WA, it's gorgeous!

Some JBLM administrative buildings. Look at that sky!

Streets on base.

Deers on base! You can't hunt them and are even allowed to feed them.

We saw a family of 3 attempt to cross a busy street, right before exiting JBLM North. Well the mom and child were the bravest. The father stayed behind. Below, a video of the two crossing a second intersection!

Living near a base and spending time on one includes:

• uniformed men and women 24/7. They walk, they work out, they pump gas, they buy groceries for their families. In uniform.
• seeing license plates from Alaska! So far I have seen license plates from 29 of our 50 states. I thought I would never see a car from Hawaii, but I did! Some of the most common plates include Washington's neighbors: Idaho and Oregon. Texas is extremely common too! I'm told Rhode Island will be a difficult state to spot, due to it's small size and low population. But I'm a West Coast gal with a mission: find a car from every state!
• being prepared to show your military ID if you are a service member, or your civilian ID and guest pass. I have my official JBLM guest pass so I get to hear this when I come on base "Welcome to JBLM ma'am." Sweet!

I haven't explored the entire base yet, but I am familiar mostly with JBLM North. You may want to know what the difference is between JBLM North and JBLM Main, right?

Thanks to: http://www.mcchordairmuseum.org/REV%20B%20OUR%20HISTORY%20%20Joint%20Base%20Lewis%20McChord%20-%20JBLM.htm

 The thick red line is I-5. The part of the base (which is in green) North of the red line is known at JBLM North. The remaining area in green is JBLM Main. Exit 120 W takes you to JBLM North and 120 E takes you to JBLM Main. Like I said earlier, if you for some reason get off at exit 120 and JBLM means nothing to you, just get back on the freeway.

Puyallup

Wait, what is a Puyallup? It's a place. Pull-y'all-up? Noooo, but I did try to say it that way. Here's a pronounciation guide:

PEW-al-up
pew - as in church; rhymes with 'two'
al - as in short for allen, rhymes with 'pal'
up - as in the English dictionary word 'up' 

 

There's nothing actually special that I've discovered about Puyallup. I was merely amused with it's name. Since I've brought it up, I'll tell you some more about Puyallup.  It's one of the cities of Pierce County, which includes the city of Tacoma.  Puyallup is 5 miles east of Tacoma and is named after a Native American tribe. The name means "the generous people."

Another city I've been to a lot is Lakewood. It's just north of JBLM and the I-5 passes through it on the way to/from base/home. 

Here are some views of these smaller cities.

Wapato Park

June 17 - Day 3

Of course the first thing I had to do was explore the local LA Fitness, which just opened/re-opened with all new equipment! Lots of weights, machines, but no basketball court and believe it or not, no stairmaster machines! Another sign I'm no longer in LA. Being in the Evergreen State, I decided to take advantage of their parks and found this gem known as Wapato Lake. I was extremely mesmerized by the natural beauty of this lake and park! The pictures themselves will speak a thousand words!

At the south end is 72nd St. At the North end, the dog park. On the East end, you'll see a "You are here" red dot by the perimeter of the lake. I'll use these as reference points for my photos.

I started my walk from the south east corner and walked counter clockwise (if you would like to reference where in the park I took pictures.)

1. Taken from the south east corner, facing the lake

2. The building you see corresponds to the "You Are Here" dot on the map.

3. Ducks, a little bit North of the "You Are Here" dot.

4. View from the North End, on a bridge. On the map it is the spot between Wapato Lake and the smaller body of water.

5. From the West side, facing North. Wapato Lake is to the right. I had finished walking the path and looked back to take a picture.

6. This is a view from the Southwest end. Across you see the building from Image 2.

There are awesome bridges, behind the dog park (which is in the Northeast part of the map) that run through a sea of trees. I first discovered them on a jog with my running partner. I don't have photos of that area yet. I didn't want to be the girl that goes missing because her curiosity over powered logical reasoning.  Next run, I'll be sure to snap some pictures of the serene, secluded area.

Almost there - Day 2

June 16 - The road trip continues.

We left the quaint town of Weed, CA around 6 am, saying good bye to the Townhouse Hotel.

Weed, CA mural, with Mt. Shasta in the center.

Townhouse Hotel

The morning was bright and a cool 50 degrees. We were about an hour away from the CA/OR border. As soon as we got on the road, we saw road kill. Deer you ask? Nope. It was light brown and had very fluffy fur. So what could it be? Sadly, it was a baby bear. *No picture available*

Bronze cow. What good is that?

These still exist? Yup, at a random gas station they do!

 

 

Finally!

 

Did you know that...

•  in Oregon attendants pump your gas for you?
• The Simpsons are based off of Springfield, OR, and not the dozens of other Springfields in the US. (There are 5 places named Springfield in Wisconsin alone!). And yes, we did stop for gas in Springfield, OR. 
• the highest elevation on I-5 is in Oregon? It's called Siskiyou Mtn, with an elevation of 4,310 ft. 

  

  Wow!

Downtown Portland, OR

 When you enter Portland from the South, you're in OR. Exit from the North, and welcome to WA!

Look at the picture above. See anything different? Maybe strange? In Washington, they use George Washington's bust/outline when they refer to a highway/route. Isn't that cool!?

Bye bye OR. Hello WA. This bridge is over the great Columbia River.

And here we are, over the bridge and in WA!

The Trip North - Day One

June 15th, 2013 - the departure date
Roadtrippin' is not the easiest when you have a trailer attached to your car, which is transporting a sports bike. I had never traveled like this before. I had been on a road trip from coast to coast, so I knew what I could expect of the ride (sleep, rest stop, food -  repeat). 17 hours? No biggie. Try 39, from LA, CA to Richmond, VA. Been there and done that.
I learned what one must be prepared for, when road trippin' in general and with a trailer.

1. First and foremost, check your tires and have a spare! What wasn't obvious to me was so obvious to others - a tire that wouldn't have survived 17 hours on the I-5 and could pop at any moment. But it looked fine to me!
2. Have a spare tire, in case a tire does pop or gets flat...who knows what can happen on the long road.
3. Learn how to change that tire. During the past months I've been reminded changing a tire is an easy process, which can save you from waiting for triple A and save you $ as well. *Note that I do not yet know how to change a tire, but I road tripped with someone who does. In the event that you do not have tire changing knowledge, drive with someone who does.*
4. Securing a motorcycle to a trailer takes time. Account for that in your travel timeline. Securing a trailer takes less time, in my experience, but make sure you have all the necessary tools and equipment to do so, such as having a tow hitch (key piece!) to attach the trailer to.

The final product.

 With a couple of setbacks that, we finally left LA, a bit later than we had planned to. The drive on the I-5 to NorCal is quite boring, as some readers know through experience. *Cue Polina's nap times* Sometimes that drive can have some excitement, such as traffic (wait, I thought we left LA hours ago...) and an accident:

Other wise, the road looked like this:

Dry land.

Vineyards.

Cattle. Cows, bulls, goats, horses - you name it, I saw it. 

Finally, some excitement...but really? City of Trees? Oh Cali!!

Then, a fire.

The brightest green I saw on the road that day! Rice paddies!

Ah, sunflowers.

Then the road was no longer dry. Now there were trees, hills, mountains and lakes! There were also stubborn deer who hung out by the side of the road, but I wasn't quick enough to photograph them. Just imagine Bambi, because I did see a baby deer.

The beautiful (and large) Lake Shasta!

Awesome Mt. Shasta!

A beautiful sunset to end a day's drive. Final stop = Weed, CA.

 

 

 

The day came to a close in Weed, CA, where people sit on bridges and look at the freeway traffic below. That is their form of entertainment. With a population of only 3, 000 people, you can't blame them. The city of Shasta is home to the original Black Bear Diner and is only a ten minute drive from Weed. So guess where I had some great tasting fish and chips for dinner!
Speaking of dinner, on the way to Black Bear Diner, instead of hopping back on the freeway, I explored the side roads, which were very dark, surrounded by tall trees on both sides, and filled with bats! Yes, bats! Bats who were hunting bugs. Bugs who are attracted to headlights. Headlights that were on my car. This chain reaction allowed me to see bats! What a day!