WEEK 10
Sunday, July 4th. Happy Birthday, USA.
PLAN: to stop at Astoria, Oregon.
COMMENTS: We slept in. Got going slowly. Drove around town (LIncoln City). Found a beach access for autos/SUV's to the beach. I venture part way, see a big-wheeled pickup get stuck where I was headed. Discression/wiseness cuts in and I slowly take a u-turn and leave the area. Zigzagging thru the streets we come upon a large casino, but not Vegas large. Here one can insert only bills; cannot play quarters, or nickels, althought the bet may be a quarter or nickle each flip of the button. We leave. We are away from the coast too much, now. We take a few loops off the hiway to get some more coastal views. Few to be had.
Across the Columbia River we go over a narrow, very high bridge into Washington. The coastal views are fewer now as we move more inland thru forest and valleys. Gas is cheaper here than Oregon. I tanked up in Oregon at $2.029. I see it at $1.989 in Aberdeen where we stop for the night. Motel it for $40. ...
Monday, July 5th
PLAN: up to Pacific Beach, Washington.
We get to Forks, Washington, which is inland and then break for a campground on the coast.
COMMENTS: Left motel. It ws not a good smelling place although just renovated. we go to Denny's for breakfast. Aberdeen is inlnad on a huge bay. we cut to the coast to a meninsula -- scenic drive sign guides us. It wasn't so scenic. We did see four deer grazing in a field. As we go along the hiway, there are few views of the coast. When we did see the ocean, it was quite scenic. We are back onto Rte 101 and going inland with rare swings to the coast for 60 or 70 miles. Another 30 miles of inland brings us to Forks. We go about 15 miles to the campground which is riverside very close to the Pacific Ocean. A short drive gets to the parking lot by the beach which is a short hike from parking. There are tree size hunks of driftwood here. A pebble beach -- no sand, but the pebbles are very smooth. We backtrack 5 miles to a little restaurent for dinner; then southwest to Quileute Indian Reservation. Fake totem pole here. The town is neater than the reservation we saw earlier today further south. Here there is avery scenic coast line, small harbour, some small islands, and an eagle. A bald eagle is perched on a small tree in a small island in the inlet. While driving back to the campground I see a hawk atop a short fir tree and then a panoramic view looking east -- snow peaked mountains with green mountains infront.
Tuesday, Junly 6th
PLAN: another day at Pacific Beach, Washington
We are already norht of Pacific Beach.
COMMENTS: It rained last night and is still raining as the alarm goes off at 6:30. Our first rain in 2 months. It is still raining when we finally rollout of the tent. Pack up in the rain and go north. Rain lets up soon after. Occasional low fog. A few scenic views along river/lake as we move inland. Have brunch at Grandma's Diner/restaurent. On to Port Angeles. Lady in Visitor Center gives some motel suggestions. We check into a small one called Ruffles. They wanted $67 a night. I got 3 night for $150. After a bit of shopping I find a road up a mountain in Olympic National Park. Soon the pavement is gone and I'm on dirt. Soon we are above the clouds and the road is getting narrow. We are still climbing; I'm honking the horn every 10 seconds just-in-case. This is more white-knuckle driving. Cloud, tight turns, narrow road, blind curves: this is crazy. I find a wider spot and pull a 3-point turn. Haven't seen a car for miles. On the way down one passes us on it's way up. Back to town and we find a Chinese restaurent that served up delicious food.
Wednesday, July 7th
PLAN: is to get to Port Angeles.
We are already there.
COMMENTS: Breakfast in room. Drive east to outskirts of Port Angeles to Juffy Lub for oil & filter change. We've done about 18,000kn so far. Farther east to Swquim. There is a JCPenny here; Cindy gets her hair done. I go to the local library It is not open til later. I scout around town. There are some cutsy places. I also find a used book store. I get 9 for only $6.15. Then, it is back to library to read e-mails and get another journal entry added.
Lunch is It's back to Port Angeles to the post office, then to the main area of Olympic Park. Our National Parks Pass gets us in free. It is about 28Km up the side of the mountain -- zigzagging all the way. But it is paved. Today we get a few K past the entry station and there is fog. At the top I can see about 100 feet when lucky. No panoramic vistas today. Going down is worse. We are on the outside of the road -- on the edge. At least it is paved.
Back to town. Cindy does some laundry. We pack up what we can so there is little to be done tomorrow as we have to catch the ferry to Canada. Don't want to miss it or we won't get to Victoria til very late afternoon. Placard outside the ferry port says to get there about an hour before the schedule parting time. For the 12:30 we should be there by 11:30 tomorrow.
We are down from the Hurricane Ridge drive and what to do for dinner? I head to the downtown/harbour area. Might be something near the ferry terminal. At the Red Lion Motel is the Crab House Restaurent. It is not a crab "shack" but a rather fancy place. We go the whole 9 yards for a pre-anniversary dinner: wine, salad bar, major meal and dessert. Mmmmm!!
Car is all packed up above. The roofbox is full. I did manage to repack some items differently so some souvenirs and gifts fit in giving more room in the back despite all of our purchases. I can still see out of the back window. Good thing that I did take out the back seats to allow for the extra space.
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Our Great Escape time in the US ends tomorrow. I have put together some of my "best of ..." thoughts in no particular order:
Best "awesome" areas: Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
.......................Driving dirt roads in Arizona
.......................Grand Canyon, Arizona
.......................Death Valley at 282 feet below sea level
.......................Hearst Castle and the coast of California
.......................Las Vegas
Best "cactus" area: all around Tucson, Arizona
Best views: the California coast
Best wildlife: near Hearst Castle (coyote, deer, elephant seals, seals)
Best "theme" park: Old Tucson Studios
Best Route 66 state: Oklahoma
Most "rugged" road: the Apache Trail, Roosevelt Dam to Mesa, Arizona
Best time in Vegas: singing along with the Drifters and the Marvellettes
| come on in and enjoy the show! | |
Best "other" entertainment in Vegas: the fountains and music outside the Bellagio
Best of Disneyland: the evening parade, followed by the Fantasmics and then the fireworks.
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Friday, July 9th
PLAN: take the ferry to Victoria, and drive north to Sydney on Vancouver Island.
We do.
COMMENTS: ferry to Victoria leaves Port Angeles at 12:45. Word is to be at the dock an hour before. To ensure we get on I plan to be there befor 11:00. We're up early. Eat in room. Load up rest of our stuff. Not in a rush. Lots of time. Let's go and be even earleir. Arrive at dock a bit after 10:00 -- there are over a dozen vehicles ahead of us -- maybe they missed the earleir ferry. I pay our $44.50US and we are guided to a "staging"area. We can lock and leave the car and wander about. To the pier for a coffee and washrooms. Browse thru a few shops. Sit and relax. Crossing the street I look back at the staging area. It seems full. Time is before 11:15. Good thing we didn't just arrive an hour early, we wouldn't be on this ferry and would have to wait til around supper time for next one. Across the street is a really neat shop. Some coke memorabilia, fine china, trinkets, kitchen gadgets, fancy clothes, funny cards, chocolate goodies, souvenirs, etc. We don't buy anything, but could have spent a small fortune if not already way over our duty-free limit. It is almost noon. We must be back on dock and in car by 12:15. A light rain has started. The ferry coming from Victoria is visible and will dock & unload soon. By 12:45 we are starting to load up. We get on early so we are upfront in the ferry. A huge RV is beside us and another is behind. And I was worried that we might not fir due to teh roof box. No passengers are permitted on the car deck once underway. Upstairs there is an outsidedeck aft for sitting or sstrolling. Large no-smoking lounge is upfront and the smoking lounge is amidship. We go upfront. Too windy and wet, outside. We dock 2:00ish in Victoria harbour. We are in first dozen or so off the ferry. First border check is no problem, but due to being well over our duty-free limit it is I have to go to pay up. But first, they have to do a "search" of the roof box. It took a few seconds. Inside, I have all of my receipts: a very nice young lady goes thru them, adds them up, converts it all to Canadian dollars and charges me $120. All of this takes time.
Meanwhile, Cindy is in the car wondering what's going on. Some smaller RV's/camper vans are getting a thorough going over/thru. I'm back & off we go. Find washrooms in the parliament building. Call our friend, Don, the mountie, who grew up in Lachine. He lives half an hour north in Sydney. We do a few blocks of downtown and then head his way.
Don takes us out in Sydney harbour via a borrowed, small cabin cruiser. Everything is calm but there are lots of distant clouds. It is quite scenic. He zips us over to where his sail boat is moored. It is a 38 foot, masthead rig's, sloop, with a 3-cylinder diesel engine. Don wants to take us sailing this weekend. Cindy can't wait to go. How soon? Will we find whales? I am very apprehensive. I am NOT a water person. But I am keen to give it a try. Tomorrow and if I survive that, then yes, we can continue on Sunday. We'll do a "ground" visit around Victoria Monday and leae Tuesday morning.
Don takes us out to a pub for a brew and snacks. Two beers later his girlfriend, Yvonne, joins us. We stay to eat and eat. Yvvonne, a flight attendant, has to fly out early tomorrow so she goes home and we keep chatting, packing it in about midnight.
Saturday, July 10th
PLAN: sail about or tour about.
We have decided to sail, and we do.
COMMENTS: Up slowly; breakfast; shopping list; directions. We'll meet Don at the yacht club, onboard. We shop for grub and find our way dockside. I help Don clean off the bottom of the dingy. He tops up the water tanks and does some other checks. We're underway. Away from the dock but still in the harbour he has ME take the helm. He takes it back as we near the fuel dock. After taking on diesel fuel, he heads us away from the dock and returns the helm to me. The wind is calm -- we're under motor power. Eventually we are out of the harbour and in the wide channel. He is taking care of the sail as I steer on. It is slow going at first as there is little wind. Not a problem as we are in no hurry to go anywhere special. I am much more relaxed than i had anticipated. Easy going. Wind is starting to pick up and it is getting chilly. Lots of cloud. Rain behind us. A few drops catch us once in a while. Hardly noticable. More rain is off our port side. We should miss it. The B.C. ferries are going back and forth each hour. I see the same one a few times inbound, outbound, etc. We see hayakers, a few others under sail, a seal, whale-watching boats coming and going, little islands off to starboard, small local ferried, a few fishing boats are heading in. Don checks his charts for a place to anchor for the night. He has me swing around the bouy, and come up a channel between a penninsula and a couple of small islands. 3 sailboats are docked next to some homes on the larger island. Ahead there is a sail boat at anchor near the end of the inlet. Don has the sail down by now as I take us thru -- slowly. HE probably would have gone more quickly. I'm a novice here! Still lots to learn! Like, don't swing the wheel around too far too fast without bringing it back some.
one eye on the depth meter (7.0meter plus is fine)
one eye on Don for signals
one eye on the starboard side
one eye roving back & forth at the scenery
one eye on the throttle control while gauging our speed
and don't forget that there is patch over one eye, eh, captain, a pirate's life for me. Har de har, har!
At our anchorange, Don Sea-B-Q's on board. We have a delicious dinner, talk for hours and finally bunk down for the night. Waters are calm but our quarters are cramped. I do feel the gentle wake of a boat passing in the night. Very awkward in the middle of the night crawling out of the bunk head-first to get to the head.