Wilsonville to Port Angeles and HOME

Morning came as usual--we woke up about 8:00, for us a little early, to a very slight thin overcast--a nice day for driving. We were on the road shortly after 9:30, plenty early we thought as we had a short run today, our last before boarding the MV Coho at Port Angeles to cross the pond to Victoria. Just a quick stop at Les Schwab Tire (At this late date we can't remember what we went back for!) and shortly after 10:00 we were north bound once again on the I-5.

The morning traffic through Portland via the I-205 "bypass" was busy but not too bad and soon we were through Oregon and crossing the Columbia River into Washington state.

Historical note: In the early years The Hudson's Bay Company had a Fort on the north side of the river mouth, Fort Vancouver, now known as simply Vancouver, Washington. This is further west, on the 101 coast highway. We took that route a couple of years ago.

In 1846 the USA won the ongoing international political haggle over the Oregon Territories dispute and now has Washington Oregon and Idaho, which we really think should have gone to us, not the US! A few years later another border dispute between us resulted in "The Pig War" on San Juan Island in 1859. Gun boats and troops were sent but finally cooler heads prevailed and the matter was referred to Kaiser Wilhelm, who the British had looked to as a friend and ally. He drew a line on a map which, though it favoured the Americans and we lost the San Juan Islands, at least ended the dispute. Fortunately in this war the only casualty was a pig and we have remained friends ever since.

As an interesting note, the Brentwood Bay Power Squadron (of which we are members) and the San Juan Island Power Squadron meet every summer to cook and eat a pig. One year the Americans provide the pig, the next year the Canadians are the hosts.

As we proceeded up the I-5 we remembered having seen in past years a sign for "Wolf Haven" and always wished we had time to stop. Having time in hand we kept our eyes out for the sign and made a small detour to check it out. We pulled in at 12:45 to find that they even had a tiny bit of the parking lot reserved for motorhomes and it is permitted to stay overnight. Unfortunately it was a sunny weekend and the place was very busy; the 2 PM tour was full, the 3 PM tour would not start for quite a while yet.

It would have meant driving up Puget Sound at night and Gillian not getting her special night out in Port Angeles so we had a quick look around the gift shop and decided to carry on homeward and return another day. We were very soon back on the I-5 and a couple of exits later we were rolling up the 101 towards P.A.





The beautiful drive up the 101 along the Hood Canal and Puget Sound





































Our celebratory dinner on our last night away is always at Bella Italia in Port Angeles. We found this restaurant several years ago and fell in love with it. It has won many awards over the years, particularly for it's wine cellar. Last year on our way home in the "new" rig we had begun to realise that if we pushed just a little and skipped our lunch stop we could probably make the afternoon ferry and get home a day early. Gillian's response to this suggestion was "Are you trying to do me out of my dinner?"! Needless to say we stopped for lunch and stayed overnight in Port Angeles!

Since there is no RV Park in Port Angeles that will easily accommodate our 32 footer and tow car we pulled into the Walmart which is located between Sequim (pronounced "Squim") and Port Angeles, checked in with the security, un-hooked the car, showered and changed and drove into P.A. where we spent half an hour in an excellent book shop before walking up the street to Bella Italia.

The food was very good, the wine excellent, but somehow this year seemed to fall just a bit short of our expectations. The restaurant was still very busy and we wouldn't have got a table had we not called for a reservation the day before. They hadn't had a change in Chef so we suppose and hope that it was just an off day.

We returned to the rig and after walking the dogs went to bed as we had an early start. In the morning we set off for the ferry lineup, Art in the motorhome and Gillian to follow after the dogs' morning walk. We always drive on separately as it's easier and cheaper. While waiting in line we had a very quick breakfast as the menu choices on the Coho are limited to say the least.

We were loading by 8:00 and sailed pretty much on time, about 8:20. The crossing was pleasant and uneventful, the time passed reading and sipping our coffee and hot chocolate and we arrived in Victoria around 10:00.

Customs again was effortless, the agents friendly and helpful, even sympathising with our long list of necessary repairs and as such, not subject to duty. After questioning Art about what else we had on board and the whereabouts of his wife, he went over to the next lane to confer with his colleague who was at that moment processing Gillian's entry. We were quickly sent on our way, our slight excess on limits ignored, or at least forgiven.

We stopped at the Red Barn on our way home for a breakfast top-up, coffee and a muffin for Gillian and the long missed Red Barn Smokie for Art. We were home by noon and now faced un-packing and dealing with 5 months of mail. First duty was to take the dogs for a walk in their home territory, which they loved of course and were soon sleeping peacefully, though not, as you can see, in their respective beds!





Dealing with 5 months of mail!












Poor Trekker, Tia took his bed!







We have a few things planned prior to our next Mexico journey such as a trip to Europe (NOT in the rig!) in June as well as a few short motorhome trips on the Island. We will post a few items as we become inspired.

Done for another year. Thanks for sharing our travels with us.

Redding to Wilsonville

Thursday morning as soon as Art was up he went to check the computer--it was still doing the file check!!! Luck was on his side however and the process was completed a few minutes later. Art tried it out, it worked, but very slowly, and fortunately all the important files, pictures etc were still available. Whew! Fortunately we were planning on buying a new one when we got home anyway.

He packed it up and after breakfast we were off and running with no more than the usual delays. Crossing the Nevada Desert days ago Art had said to Gillian "when do you think we will hit the first rain"? Eventually we decided it would likely be in southern to mid Oregon. Well . . .

Soon we had the windshield wiper on "intermittent" and not very much later they were working steady.

As we approached the town of Weed, made famous by the "Snoopy" cartoons, we saw the sign showing that the Rest Area was closed. This used to be a great rest area located alongside the Weed Airport where you could watch the small planes coming and going but it was closed last year as well. Hope it's not a permanent thing. We were ready for a break so we took the exit anyway and parked on the side of the road behind a row of semis who's drivers had the same idea.

As we approached the Siskiyou Pass between California and Oregon Art noticed the large highway sign that read: "Winter Conditions Traction Tires or Carry Chains Mandatory". Since the rain was still rain we continued, hoping that we would not be stopped. Backtracking to purchase chains that we would never use would be wasteful of both time and money.

As the elevation increased the "rain" got thicker and soon the wipers were piling up a bit of slush at the sides of the windshield but you couldn't really call it snow. Soon however we reached the summit and began the long descent into Oregon, the exhaust brake and cruise control holding our speed down nicely, our brakes hardly needed.

The further we got into Oregon the better the weather became and soon the rain was a thing of the past. We rolled into CampingWorld in Wilsonville well before dark and before long we were parked and level, slides out and ready for a drink and dinner.


Also overnighting in the lot waiting for their morning appointment was a family from Nova Scotia (The Other Wet Coast); Dad, Mom and 2 daughters on a RV circumnavigation of Canada and the USA. Mom and Dad later joined us for a drink and a chat, comparing notes and stories while the girls stayed home watching videos and or doing their homework.


In the morning Art went to check in with the service department only to find that somehow our appointment had been booked for the following Friday!!! They were very busy but thought they could squeeze us in sometime during the day if we just left the coach with them. Meanwhile the service rep went to ensure that the part for the awning had arrived. It had and close examination showed that it was very easy to install--press, snap, it would be done.



We paid for the part, (WAY too much for what it was--a bit of extruded plastic--$40.00 plus $20.00 shipping!!!!!) took it with us and made our way to Les Schwab Tire. Here we left the coach for the replacement batteries under warranty and to have a tire rotation done while we were there. Off in the car to Denny's to meet our Nova Scotia friends, as arranged earlier, for breakfast.

Then to the Pet shop to find a few goodies for the dogs--this shop is where, on our way south every year, we buy Trekker's grain free food to last him through the winter in Mexico. We had run out so we bought a small bag to get him home. (Trekker has a grain allergy--after a while his hair begins to fall out.)

By this time it was a little too late to head north so we eventually found a very nice campground that was dog friendly and settled in for the remainder of the afternoon and spent the night alongside the river. "Eventually" because she who was driving the Tracker and leading the way first got in the wrong lane and led the coach through a very small parking lot to turn around, then turned into a shopping centre parking lot instead of onto Highway 99 South. Again the motorhome followed, though at least here there was a bit more room to manouver so as to get back on track. As mentioned a moment ago eventually we all safely arrived in our space in the park, Art's tongue not too much worse for the biting of it. At least Gillian knew where to find the grocery store to do a bit of shopping!