Either side of the Canadian border

17^th June

It stopped raining some time in the night. We drove back thru the Wild West-looking town of Winthrop and headed down the valley. The geography changed gradually from forest to dry arid until we hit the ‘97’ and the Columbia River. It was now very much like Central Otago with dry rocky hills and orchards following the river valley. We are on a short detour to Lake Chelan. We were told by a guy several weeks ago, of a mail boat trip up this lake which we should not miss. We drove down towards the lake and both said, “we are in Wanaka”. The arid hills, the lake frontage and the houses were very similar. The only camp was run by the city and on the waterfront. It was very nice with lots of space and huge grassed areas, but expensive. As our boat trip will take all day tomorrow we have booked in for 2 nights. We biked thru the town and around to where the mail boat will leave from tomorrow, to pick up our tickets. Back thru the town and a walk around the shops. The weather is now very hot and sunny. What a change from yesterday. The camp is filling up as it is now the school holidays and like Wanaka, this is a holiday destination.

18^th June

The alarm went off at 6:30am and we were on our bikes to the boat by 7:45am for our 8:30am sailing. This lake is 51 miles long but very narrow. The trip takes 4 hours each way with a 90 minute stop at the other end, Stehekin. The “Lady of the Lake” is the only way to get to most of the areas along this lake shore. We stopped many times to drop people off, deliver freight and even mail.

The mail is done using a long pole with the mail bag tied to the end. We spoke to an old couple who were returning from a shopping trip to their summer home, only accessible by this boat. They spend the winters in Arizona. For the first 10 miles we passed multi million dollar homes on the lake shore. As we went further up the lake we could see the Cascade Mountains we had been in a couple of days ago. At one stage we dropped off a gang of miners who were cleaning up an old disused copper mine.

All very interesting. At Stehekin we got off the boat and after going to the visitor’s centre (we are back in the Northern Cascade National Park) we climbed a track for better views of the lake and the mountains. At 2:00pm the “Lady of the Lake” blew her horn and we got back on board for our 4 hour trip home, stopping again for the same things. The day was warm and clear and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip. After a pizza for dinner we spoke to a Canadian couple in the camp about what we could or could not take across the border between the USA and Canada. Seems like only pip fruit and corn are a problem.

19^th June

We shopped for the last time in the USA for a while before leaving Lake Chelan.

We retraced our route for about 25 miles up the ‘97’ before heading further north towards the Canadian border. It was still very much like Central Otago. This is a vey famous apple growing area. The valley got narrower and we have stopped (after fuelling up - petrol is much dearer in Canada) at the town of Oroville. We are at a state park beside a nice lake. There is a bike trail following an old rail track here. We went to the visitors centre to enquire about it. We will the cycle the trail tomorrow. Back at our camp we went for a swim in the lake. The water was nice and warm and the sun is out and the temperature is around 28C. All very nice. We will stay here 2 nights and before heading across the border 4 miles away.

20^th June

It was summer temperatures in the night and we retired one of our duvets. A leisurely start to the day before packing our lunch and setting off for our bike ride. The trail followed the Similkameen River passed some vineyards before the gorge narrowed. At first we thought the trail was 12.5 miles, a nice longish ride. Then we found that the last section had not been completed so the trail was shortened to 7.5 miles. After cycling 4 miles the trail ended. The mileage must have been a return trip! It was still a nice ride with great views of the river.

We sat and ate lunch looking at a waterfall/dam before a very leisurely ride back to “Ernie”. The wind had got up and a swim was not appealing. It was still warm though.

21^st June

During breakfast we talked to an ex Aussie and his wife who told us our American cellphone would not work in Canada. Bugger! We had a short stop at the border and continued on to the first town in Canada, Osoyoos, where we used an ATM for some Canadian dollars. At the visitors centre we got a couple of maps that will get us thru to Vancouver. We are now back to kilometres which is a bit confusing. The landscape was much the same with fruit growing in the valley and ever increasing rocky hills either side.

The road climbed onto a plateau and we were in forest again at the top end of the Cascade Mountains. We followed the Similkameen River and found a camp site on its banks for the night.

22^nd June

We sat around in the sun reading as we did not have far to go. At around 11:00am continued following the Similkameen River eventually climbing a pass into a different river valley with views of the Cascade Mountains. At the Info Centre at Hope we stopped for some maps of British Columbia and Alberta which will cover our Canadian trip this year. We texted the girls and got a reply. So much for the ex Aussie who claimed our cellphone would not work in Canada! We crossed the Fraser River and found our camp at Kilby on the shores of Lake Harrison. It was a beautiful spot with many families swimming, fishing and boating. The water was a little cool for us to swim and the mosquitoes were savage. Insect repellent kept them away but I got bitten thru my T-shirt. After dinner they drove us inside.

23^rd June

We continued down the north side of Lake Harrison before crossing to the much busier ‘1’ freeway on the south shore and our run into Vancouver. We are about 20kms from the city centre in Surrey. We had booked the camp some time ago as they offered a special rate to allow us to park “Ernie” while we are away on our cruise which leaves on 25^th June. The camp is a bit run down but will serve the purpose. The friendly receptionist told us of a light rail system which we will use to get to the cruise ship. We biked to the local shops for a look around and to get some Canadian stamps. Our arrival at Vancouver marks the halfway point of our trip.

24^th June

It rained heavily in the night and was dull and overcast in the morning. Our day will be spent readying ourselves for our 7 night Alaskan Cruise which we join tomorrow. We will try and publish this blog today. There is only an internet hotspot up by the office however.

Washington continued...

6^th June

We left Westport and started our tour of the Olympic National Park. This involves a 270 degree trip around the Mt Olympia area which will take several days. We stopped at the major city in this area, Aberdeen, to shop. This included a white shirt and tie and a pair of black pants for me. Required formal duds for the Alaskan Cruise!! Our stop for the night was at the beautiful Lake Quinault which reminded us of a South

Island lake with trees down to the shore. There was a short walk along the waterfront, passed some baches overlooking the lake, to a lovely historic lodge.

7^th June.
We headed back to the coast and stopped at Ruby Beach. Unfortunately there was a sea mist but the rock formations were still pretty spectacular. We left the ‘101’ and headed inland following the Hoh River.

After finding a great sunny camping spot on the banks of the river we walked to the visitors centre and then a short walk around an area called the “Hall of Mosses.” This area gets a huge rain fall. The club moss and liquorice ferns hang from the trees giving the walk a very eerie feel. Back at “Ernie” we collected some fire wood and had a great evening enjoying our camp fire.

8^th June

I am now a pensioner! Pancakes for breakfast before heading out to the ‘101’ and up another valley following the Sol Duc River to a thermal springs area where we camped. After lunch we biked to a car park and then a short walk to the Sol Duc Falls.

There were lots of families on the track and the waterfalls were very nice. Back to “Ernie” to pick up our togs and a short walk down to the Sol Duc Hot Springs resort. The pools were very much like a small version of Hanmer. The main hot pool was 102F and quite hot. The other hot pool was 107F! Very uncomfortable.
 There was also a fresh water swimming pool at 74F. We decided to return tonight and have dinner at the resort. After drinks and nibbles at “Ernie” we walked back to the resort and had a great Cod and Chips meal and a free dessert. (on the house birthday treat) All very nice with a great atmosphere overlooking the hot pools.

9^th June.

Back on the ‘101’ to continue our circumnavigation of Mt Olympus, which we have yet to see. The mountain is quite low at 7600ft and obscured by its foothills. We stopped at another beautiful lake (Lake Crescent) There was another historic lodge where Teddy Roosevelt stayed in the 1930s and declared the Olympic area a National Park. At the city of Port Angeles we could see across the San Juan Straights to Vancouver Island, Canada. 
                                                      At the visitors centre we watched a video of

the National Park before setting off on the 17 mile drive to Hurricane Ridge up in the snow again. We thought we might be thwarted seeing Mt Olympus and the surrounding ranges as we drove thru low cloud but as we got higher the cloud cleared and we had 270 degree views of the mountains.

 We climbed (on foot) even higher and the vistas were magnificent. We sat enjoying the views eating lunch before descending back into the clouds and our next camp at Sequim Bay on the coast.

10^th June

We spent some time after breakfast organising our route from Seattle to Vancouver and booked two nights in an RV park in Seattle with (we were assured) good public transport into the city. We drove thru forested areas to the shores of the Hood Canal. This is a long (70 miles) narrow harbour which we followed to its end at Hoodsport and a small State Park camp. We found a nice sunny camp site and enjoyed a warming evening.

11^th June

After a shop at the town of Sheldon we joined the ‘I-5’ for our run into Seattle. This is a very populace area with the cities of Olympia, Tacoma and finally into Seattle and our RV park. We were assigned a small site (cheap) which suited us as we plan to spend most of our time in the city. We had decided to go to the baseball tonight. The New York Yankees v the Seattle Mariners. A 15 minute walk brought us to a bus stop with an express bus straight into the city. The Seattle CBD is on a narrow piece of land with Lake Washington on one side and the Puget Sound on the other. Our bus took us over Lake Washington on two long bridges. 
 The bus stopped in sight of the Safeco Stadium where we walked to get our tickets. As the gates had just opened we went into the Bull Pen Bar (happy hour) which was at pitch level and watched the players warm up. Later the pitchers warmed up right in front of us. Awesome close up! We climbed up to our seats high above the field but with a great view. After the first innings Val bought us a hot dog and chicken and chips.

The atmosphere was great which made up for a lack lustre game. Going into the 9^th innings the Yankees were 4-0 up but the Mariners scored 2 runs which gave the home crowd a ray of hope. It was not to be and the Yankees won 4-2. This is the first game we have watched where the home team has not won. This is the first of a three game series (consecutive nights) and all the fans will be back tomorrow night. We had to wait for a while for our bus and were back at “Ernie” around 11:30pm.

12^th June

As rain is forecasted for later in the day we decided to head back into the CBD early. The bus dropped us off with a short walk to the Seattle Centre. This is where the 1962 World Fair was held. The most famous structure here is the Space Needle.We bought tickets to go up in an hours time. There was no trouble filling in the time with a band playing and shops to look at. A short fast lift ride took us up to the viewing gallery at the top. We walked around the outside with fantastic views of  Seattle city, the harbour and Lake Washington.We caught the old monorail back into the retail area and marvelled at the great sky scrapers mixed with older buildings. Next on our tour was Pike Place Market. The old warehouses have been converted into a maze of small shops selling everything. A large area was fish and fruit. After buying some local takeaways for lunch we sat overlooking the harbour. We completed our tour thru the old historical area with some beautiful architecture. This is a great city with very distinct areas and a great atmosphere.  Back on the bus and home and, as predicted the rain came.

13^th June.

An exciting day!! We booked a factory tour of Boeing a couple of weeks ago. Back on the busy freeways for a 30 mile drive north to Everett where the Future of Flight and the Boeing factory are. 

The drizzly rain has stayed with us. The parking was great and we walked a short distance to the main visitors building. Our tour was at 11:30am and we filled in the time looking at the Future of Flight exhibition and the usual gift shop. The interesting plane in this area was the first hydrogen fuel cell plane. The first part of our tour was a short video describing the 747, 777 and the 787 that we would see. Then it was onto a bus and a short ride to the biggest building in the world. It would cover 75 football pitches or Disneyland plus 12 acres of car parking! 




         On the way the Dreamlifter, a modified 747 landed in front of us. What a sight! It is designed to bring the parts of a 787 Dreamliner to the factory from manufacturers around the world. There are 3 of these monsters. This factory builds all of Boeing’s wide body jets, the 767, 777, 747 and the 787. The bus let us off at this huge building where we walked down a tunnel (3^rd of a mile) to a lift that took us up to a viewing gallery high above the factory floor. Our first area was the 747 build area. These planes are built from scratch and huge cranes lift the bits to the next position until eventually a completed 747 rolls out the door.

The next area was the 777 build area. This is different as these planes are built on a rolling assembly system travelling very slowly to the completed aircraft. The last area was the 787 Dreamliner assembly line. These parts are manufactured all around the world and fitted together in a shorter line. They make 10.3 a month. They have orders for 1000! The factory employs 44,000 in 3 shifts. All mind boggling stuff! The tour took 90 minutes and was as good as I had hoped for. No photos unfortunately as cameras are banned. Outside parked ready for test flights and delivery was Air NZ’s first 787-9 Dreamliner. It was a very short drive to the ferry for Whidbey Island where we camped at the South Whidbey State Park. It was still overcast with the odd shower. We walked down to the beach at Admiral Inlet. Whidbey Island is north of Seattle in the Puget Sound.

14^th June

It is still drizzling and we drove to the cute little town of Coupeville. This is the 2^nd oldest town in Washington. Very touristy but not at its best in the gloomy weather. We continued on to Oak Harbour and after lunch the weather cleared a bit and we went for a walk along the beach front and to the historic town. Lots of antique and craft shops. Whidbey Island reminds us of a large version of Waiheke Island, very near a major city but with great beaches and inlets and a very arty relaxed feel. We found an RV Park right on the beach for our last night on the island.

15^th June.

We drove the last 17 miles of the 54 mile length of Whidbey Island in gloomy rain and crossed the famous Deception Pass Bridge back onto the mainland. The Deception Pass has a huge tidal flow very much like French Pass. The road gradually changed from farm land to forest as we climbed into the Cascade Ranges and the Northern Cascade National Park We went to the visitors centre and decided to drive a further 11 miles into the national park to the Lake Diablo camp.We hiked an uphill track 4 miles return to Thunder Knob and some great views of the lake and the surrounding mountains. Luckily the rain had stopped and cloud had lifted.

16^th June

More drizzly rain!! The road climbed steeply and we had some great views of the peaks. At Washington Pass we were into the snow and stopped at the view point at the top. The skies briefly cleared and the views were spectacular. Down the other side and into the historic town of Winthrop.

We found an RV Park so that we could explore this great town. It has most of its old buildings and boardwalks. During our walk around, the skys opened so we sheltered in the oldest saloon in Washington. It had a great atmosphere and seemed to be the “local” watering hole. As we have good internet we will publish this blog.

Columbia River Gorge and into Washington

24^th May

We biked for 2 miles to the light rail station and caught the train into the middle of downtown Portland. The city is set between the Willamette River and the hills. It is a mix of the old and the new. We walked thru the centre and down to the river where there was a weekend craft market. I have decided all craft markets are the same throughout the world. Woodwork, pottery, glass, metal stuff, tie-dyed stuff, olive oil, honey and knitting. This one was big but followed the formula. We used our one day pass and got back on the light rail to Washington Park This is a huge park with the zoo, gardens etc. We wandered around enjoying the peace and quiet before heading back to the city centre for lunch. Really great nachos!

Portland has a population of 600,000 and a great transport system. (free within the CBD) Back on the light rail to our bikes and the ride to “Ernie”. We skyped the girls with limited internet success.

25^th May

It was an overcast morning with very little on our agenda. Val did washing and I did a couple of small jobs on “Ernie”. After lunch the sun came out and we went for a walk around the neighbourhood. We are on the banks of the Columbia River with a yacht club outside our gates and some pretty posh houses overlooking the river. There is also a very up-market golf course nearby. Summer membership of the Kaiapoi Golf Club would not have got us passed the security! Around dinner time it started to rain again

26^th May

We used the internet again before heading east along the Columbia River and joining the Historic Columbia River Highway thru a couple of cute little towns. The road was narrow and windy and we stopped for views of the Columbia Gorge. A bit like the Rhine. There are some beautiful waterfalls along this historic road and the traffic was really bad. This is a public holiday (Memorial Day) and everyone was out sight- seeing. We were stopped for long periods as cars waited to find parking to see the waterfalls. We drove on as we were camping close to the best ones and will ride our bikes back to them tomorrow when everyone is back at work. After finding our camp we went for a pleasant 2 hour walk

thru the forest to a couple of waterfalls, one of which you could walk behind. There were many family groups on the track most with dogs. After dinner we spent some time with the maps and our planning schedule researching our route thru Washington.

27^th May

On our bikes and a 4 mile ride back up the Historic Columbia River Highway to the largest waterfall in this area. There were far fewer people around and we had a great look at the spectacular Multnoma Falls, the 4^th highest in the USA. (620ft). We climbed up a gentle track for 1.2 miles to the top of the falls with some great views. We stopped at another waterfall on the way back to “Ernie”. Back on the road and onto the I-84, the main road up the Columbia River Gorge. It was only a short drive to our next camp at Viento Lake.

The river is dammed just down stream forming this lake. It is a very windy area and popular with wind surfers. (Viento means windy in Italian) After a short walk to the lake we spent the rest of the day enjoying the sun. The weather is now very warm. Hopefully it will stay that way when we hit Washington tomorrow. Oregon has been great! Quite like NZ with mountains, lakes and a lovely coastline. 

28^th May

Another change of plans over breakfast. We have decided to take a 50 mile return detour to see Mt Hood, the highest mountain in Oregon. We turned off the Columbia Gorge highway and followed the scenic road thru the Hood Valley where there were many fruit orchards. We climbed thru forest up the side of Mt Hood, passed some good camp sites to the Bartlet Pass. Unfortunately there was some cloud obscuring the mountain and it even snowed briefly. We went back down the pass to one of the camp sites we had seen. In the afternoon we took a 4 mile hike up to the Tamanawas Falls. The track followed the up a step gorge with a very swift river cascading over rocks.

After scrambling over a huge rock fall area we came to the falls. What sight!! There was a large volume of water going over the falls making an impressive view. Back at “Ernie” we sat in the last of the sun before it turned cold. We were the only ones in the camp. The hope is that we will see Mt Hood on our way out tomorrow.

29^th May

Believe or not we have now completed 1/3 of our trip. The time has really flown. We stopped a couple of times on the road back to the Columbia Gorge for a glimpse of Mt Hood but it remained in cloud. The hike to Tamanawas Falls yesterday made the 50 mile detour well worth it however. The Columbia Gorge is dammed at several places for hydro power but also to make the river navigatable, with locks bypassing the dams. Very suddenly the landscape changed from forest to being much drier, rocky and barren. Eventually we crossed the Columbia River and were in Washington and climbed out of the gorge and away from the river. Our overnight camp was at a State Park where we found a great sunny spot. As it was nice and private and much warmer, we took the opportunity for haircuts.

The camp host told us that we could bike to a view point of the elusive Mt Hood. We biked across the highway and followed some fire trails up the hills to a beautiful meadow with lovely spring flowers and out to the SW we could see Mt Hood at last. Quite spectacular piercing the clouds. At around 7:00pm the camp host came to check if we were back and OK as he had not seen us return from the ride.

30^th May

We had a chat with a guy who is coming to NZ fly fishing next year before leaving the camp and heading north thru the big Yakama Indian Reserve and more fruit growing. Our overnight stop was at the city of

Yakima (pop 93,000) where we shopped and found an RV park. Just before Yakima we passed thru Union Gap. Ring any bells?

Yes, “Gary Puckett and the Union Gap”, an iconic sixties band with many great hits like Young Girl, Woman Woman and The Mighty Quinn came from this town. Try this link for a flash back to your past. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJFVPxBpezk     

We went for a nice 10 mile bike ride along an asphalt path beside the Yakima River and then found a bar and restaurant for dinner.

31^st May

The weather has really warmed up. It was hot in the night. Val did a wash and I wrote some of this blog before we left Yakima and followed the beautiful Naches river valley up towards the Chinook Pass. We had decided to stop for the night before going over the pass and into the Mt Rainier National Park and found a great site in a forest park.

1^st June

The views just got better as we climbed towards the Chinook Pass.

Soon we were in snow and we stopped at the top for the spectacular views in every direction. Down the other side and into the Mt Rainier National Park at White River. Unfortunately the camp ground was closed but the ranger showed us a great hike up the White River and then onto the Emmons Glacier moraine. The views of Mt Rainier (14,410ft) towering above us were fantastic.

We had packed our lunch and we stopped near the top of the moraine on a ridge and enjoyed the hot sun and the spectacular views of Mt Rainier, the Emmons Glacier and Gibraltar Rock. Not a cloud in the sky! Back to Ernie and a short drive out of the White River, over the Cayuse Pass to a camp at Ohanapecosh.

2^nd June

Another sunny morning. We heard sad news on the radio this morning the 2 guides and four climbers were killed on a ridge climbing Mt Rainier yesterday very near where we were. We have decided to stay here

another night and do a short walk. Again we packed our lunch and headed up the Ohanapecosh River. This river is quite large and has huge flow due to the snow melt. The gorge was steep and the rapids were awesome. It would be a brave man who tried to navigate them. The Silver Falls were roaring!!! We continued on for a short walk around the Grove of the Patriarchs, a series of large trees.

We have seen better. Back at “Ernie” we gathered some firewood and cooked our tea over the fire. A nice finish to a great day.

3^rd June

We woke to fog and cloud around the camp. We drove up the toward the only visitors centre open high on Mt Rainier. We were dreading a repeat of Crater Lake and Lassen Peak but the higher we got the cloud cleared and we could see the summit. By now we were back in thick

snow. At the visitors centre we enjoyed the views as the cloud cleared. We took a short walk following poles in the snow to a view of the Nisqually Glacier. By now the cloud was back down but we got a brief glimpse of some of the glacier. Back at “Ernie” for lunch with the forlorn hope of another view of the summit but the clouds stayed down. We drove down the road to our camp at Cougar Rock. The hosts showed us a great walk to yet another waterfall, Carter Falls.

We are just about mountain and waterfalled out now and will head out of this great National Park and towards the coast tomorrow.

4th June.

As the morning was clear we walked the first short bit of yesterdays hike to get a view of Mt Rainier that we missed. Back on the road and out of the National Park. We are on a windy scenic route to the coast. The first part was thru forest areas and towns, then an area where Christmas trees were cultivated, then fields of tulips, and finally fruit and berry orchards. After crossing the I-5 we stopped at a forest park for the night about ½ way on our trip to the coast.

5^th June

We followed the Wallapa River to the coast. The coastal road followed around some nice beaches and towns not unlike those in the Nelson area. At Westport we found an RV Park also very much like a NZ holiday park. (with lots of grassed areas)

We rode our bikes along a cyclepath to the marina where there were many fishing boats, some charter and some commercial. We enjoyed a stroll along the harbour with an ice-cream. Back on our bikes to the library where Val was able to print out our Alaskan Cruise tickets.  We gave “Ernie” a well deserved wash. As we have good internet we will publish this blog and skype the kids.