8-28-2013 Off to the Coast of Washington

After taking care of a few chores we decided to head to the coast of Washington. One of our passions is to walk the beaches and let the salt spray from the ocean cleanse our souls. We feel refreshed and energized when we walk the beach.

 

It took awhile to get there but after a 3 hour drive we arrived at our destination. We first stopped at the fishing town of Westport.  We stopped by an overlook to view the harbor. The weather was cloudy and cool winds.  From there we headed south along the shore line to find the sandy beaches we were looking for.  We passed through many little towns as we went seeing many interesting sites along the way.

 

 

 

One of them was some cranberries fields.  We had passed an Ocean Spray processing facility along the way and knew that the cranberries had to be close at hand.  We had remembered when we were in Oregon to pick up the Country Coach Motorhome we had seen them.  The berries were not ready to harvest but you could see them budding out.

 

 

 

 

 

We continued down to a town call Grayland and parked at one of the viewing park and walked to the beach.  It was really refreshing as we neared the beach.  You could not see the beach but that smell of the salt air empowered us to pick up our pace.  We climber over the sand dunes and there it was-- the waves lapping the beach, the seagulls, the salt mist and sand beneath our feet. We walked along the shore and hunted for sand dollars.  That is one of the favorite items we look for.  There were many broken sand dollars scattered on the beach battered by the rocks. We knew if we looked long and hard enough we could at least find one that was whole.  Sure enough we did find not one but two.  With our treasures in hand we bid the sea farewell and headed further down the shore line to see what else would catch our eye.

 

 

Further down the road we found a turnout where we opened a bottle of wine and listened to the waves crash up against the rocks. A sound that is most familiar to us. We enjoyed our time together in each other’s companionship and cherishing the moment.

We decided that it was time to head back up the highway. It was nearly 7 pm and we had 140 miles to get back to the motorhome.

When you are in the company of those you love and mean the most to you there is no sense of time and distance.

8-26 and 8-27-2013 Landing in Seattle WA, USA

 Took us two tries, but we found an unsuitable RV park Sunday night.  Then Monday morning, we actually went to 2 other parks before we found the third and final for our Seattle stay.   We spent Monday afternoon doing laundry and washing the motorhome. 

On Tuesday we've been working on the blog, Sharon got a haircut, did some grocery shopping and we had our first “fast-food” in 12 weeks, Five Guys Burgers. 

We’ve been on such a information, sensory high for so long, it’s time to reflect and rejuvenate.  Scott and Amber arrive in Seattle tomorrow night and we’ll be sightseeing with them Thursday, so we’re taking a couple days just to chill.

We still have wildlife in our campsites, just not quite as wild.

8-25-2013 Southbound and down

We decided to depart a little later that morning. We didn’t have many miles to travel today for us to arrive in Seattle and Don and Joy to get a little closer to Vancouver.

We stopped at the Minter Gardens approximately 30 miles outside of Vancouver where we strolled the beautiful gardens, had lunch and said our farewells.  

It’s hard to believe that nearly 3 months have passed and the biggest part of the trip was in the history books.  For my lifelong friend, Don, it was most difficult.  This had been a lifelong dream to travel the wilderness and back roads of Alaska.  He has been dreaming and planning this trip for many years.  His impeccable attention to details, schedules, routes and options for us to select was what made the trip a wonder experience and so successful.

Thank you, Buddy, for all that you have done to make the trip so much fun. I would not have attempted a trip of this magnitude without your guidance.

I’ll be your wing man anytime!  

Follow your Dreams and Never Give Up!

Snozzleman to RV Pilot - travel safely!

8-24-2013 Prince George to Boston Bar, BC

We departed the Prince George area headed to our next stop at a place called Boston Bar, being a sand bar in the Fraser River. We continued traveling through the farm lands of southwestern BC. The latter part of the trip would be traveling the Fraser River Canyon. The weather was splendid but the winds were not in our favor.  I would estimate that they were at least 30 mph through the canyon. When you have to accelerate going downhill you know that’s not good.

There were not too many turnouts for us to really appreciate the beauty that we were traveling through. We were dead into the sun and that made the light for taking pictures difficult.  I nearly had to put a safety rope on Sharon to keep her from going over the edge. She was jumping from the front seat to the couch and the table, sliding the windows open to take pictures on either side of the motorhome.

We arrived at our RV site about 6pm and got settled in for our final evening together.  It is a bitter sweet occasion for all of us.  Having spent nearly 90 days with the same dinner partners we know that the adventures through some of the most beautiful territory that one could image would soon be behind us.

We had brought a bottle of champagne to celebrate what we had accomplished and toast our successful journey.  Sharon had written down some of the many things we had seen and experienced along the way, so as we reflected back on the adventures we laughed and were filled with many emotions that we had encountered along the way. 

We decided to eat out that evening (at a German restaurant of all places) and take a break from the evening routine that we had developed over the past 12 weeks.

The Canyon Alpine RV park that the gals had picked was one of the most beautiful sites we had stayed at during the whole trip.  It was situated on a hillside nestled amidst huge pine trees. We could not get a perspective on how large they were until you actually saw a person next to one of them.  It was a fitting place for our farewell dinner.

8-23-2013 A down day in Prince George, BC

After the hard driving yesterday, it was good to have a down day.  Washed the cars, worked on the blog, got in 9 holes of golf and Sharon and Joy saw the town.  They had talked to a couple of ladies from here when we were at Takhini Hot Springs.  The ladies talked so warmly about their town and how they loved it. 

We went to the visitor center and talked to a really nice young man.  He gave us some tips and we headed out.  We decided not to do any museums but to just get to know and enjoy the town.  It was very easy to get around, with the residential areas blended in with the “city centre.”

Can you see him??

We visited a couple of parks and walked along the Fraser River looking for salmon.  We didn't see any salmon but did see a bald eagle flying around.  Joy had wanted to stop at Tim Horton’s for a donut and coffee.  Their Boston crème was very good.

Back at the Bee Lazee campground, we had salmon and rhubarb for dinner.  Are you seeing a pattern here?

8-22-2013 Onwards to Prince George and civilization

With roads improving we push on to Prince George about 400 miles. The farther south we drove the weather improved and temperature began to warm up. We did hit some rain along the way but all in all it was uneventful.

We traveled through some of the forestry, farm lands and agriculture areas.

largest fly fishing rod in the world

When we arrived at the RV site the BEE LAZEE we were pretty much wasted. One does not realize how taxing driving a motorhome with tow car can be until you arrive at your destination. When you are driving it takes most all of your attention and there is not much time to let your guard down or catch a cat nap.

Once we were on Highway 16 we had cell phone service. Sharon’s phone began dinging out of control. We thought that we had won the lottery!  We stopped at a road side park to grab some lunch and get in touch with the family and friends that were checking in with us.  Although we were deep into the wilderness the world still revolves and with all this technology it’s hard to leave it all behind.  I must say that life is much simpler without all the static.  You are not aware of all the meaningless clutter that goes on around you.  No world crisis to get your blood pressure up and you don’t have to be concerned about what your inept government is screwing up at the moment.   I’ll most likely get a call from the NSA for making such a derogatory statement.  Hello? Are you listening or reading my email?

I do not know where this will all end up but it is most discouraging.  It’s becoming most pathetic.

What I do know for sure is that when we arrived in Prince George there was a rainbow awaiting us.  That brings a little hope and encouragement that someday the world might be a better place for all.

Somewhere over the rainbow is a land of love, joy and hope.

8-21-2013 Stewart BC and Hyder AK

 

When we awoke in the morning the sun was shining and the air was fresh. We headed toward Stewart.  There are several glaciers in route to Stewart. 

Bear Glacier is a beautiful site to see.  It curls down between 2 mountains, which is the case of most all glaciers, with the exception of rock glaciers. We didn't know that there were so many different types of glaciers!  There are 7 different kinds:  tidewater, hanging, cirque, piedmont, valley, mountain and rock.  And, we've seen them all!

We arrived at Stewart, a small town of about 700 people. Stewart is in Canada and Hyder is located in Alaska about 3 miles away, along the inter-coastal area.  We stopped by the visitor’s center and got the local skinny and proceeded on to Hyder.  Bob was supposed to have a conference call and we had hoped to have phone service in Stewart since we hadn't had it for 3 days.  No such luck, neither Stewart or Hyder have cell phone service.

There is a bear watching platform just outside of Hyder that was constructed in 2001.  Hyder is one of the few areas where you can observe the brown bears feasting on the salmon that are spawning is the shallow fresh water streams. We stopped by and took a look but there were no bears there at that time, so we headed up to Salmon River glacier. 

No bears here today  

The Salmon River glacier is approximately 23 miles from the bear watching area.  It is 23 miles of gravel road twisting and turning up the mountain side. The road is the by product from the old mines that were in the mountain side.  It is still well maintained and there are many turnouts for sightseeing.

Old mine tunnels

The Salmon River Glacier is the largest glacier you can drive right up next to.  It is a site to behold.  We are very fortunate to have taken the time to see it.  We will not even attempt to describe the beauty and awesomeness of the glacier and surrounding mountains.  One becomes very humble when standing overlooking the vast beauty and creation before you.

Salmon glacier coming down from icefield, branching off to the left and right

Little ice castle here

Left leg of the glacier

this is a hole along the glacier

Looking down over the right leg of the glacier

flowing from left to right, calving and breaking off

This is the last glacier we will visit before departing the great northwest territory, and what a way to cap it off!!