Friday, September 25, 2009
Westward Ho Eastbound
Our room at the Crown Motel was very nice and clean with pretty hardwood floors! The outside was a sunny yellow and the ½ dozen units on either side in the front all had cute little cement front porches with plastic chairs and a small table. Before we left town we took a few pictures of the lake with the road to Summerland and the yellow cliffs that we had gone by the evening before. Barbee and Terry live in such a gorgeous area! The orchards south of Penticton take up the entire valley and stretch out like Midwest cornfields! While we headed south to the US border, anticipating the stern, stoic customs agent demeanor that we had been warned about, I “strongly suggested” that H keep his sometimes sarcastic humor in check and JUST answer the agent’s questions. Did he, you ask? If you know H, you already know that answer. We were the 10th vehicle in line. One or two of them took a bit longer than the 2 or 3 normal questions. A small motorhome was even pulled over. Those nine vehicles took 10 minutes. It took us 5 minutes to get thru! Luckily, as she opened things, she left them strewn over the back interior of the van and nothing was removed to the pavement. Thankfully, we/I endured and off we drove south, safely back in the US of A. From British Columbia, across the corner of Washington, across the panhandle of Idaho and into Montana we drove. Libbey Montana is the Eagle City of Montana and I did see a lot of high nesting perches all along the way. The center of town has a hugh big statue of an eagle that hangs above the street! The time had changed but I was still tired!
Friday the 25th we passed thru the foothills and “Native American” areas before entering the gate at West Glacier National Park only to find out that the Road to the Sun was closed 16 miles up the road. We turned around and took the long route around the entire south end of the park on Rt 2. Another delightful road that we have never been on and it gave new beautiful views of the peaks and rivers and the ribbon of railroad track that clung to the side of the mountain or nestled in the valley next to the ever present babbling brook. Up the other side and we finally entered into East Glacier. The last time we were in the park was in 1997 on our way to Alaska and nothing that we saw on our way up this time looked familiar. Last time, the world there was much greener - this time the southeast area just across the lake was totally destroyed by fire and the devastation looked fairly recent. We had driven miles and miles thru acres and acres of tall, thin, gray and black sentinels waiting forlornly to be blown over. Once up at Logan’s Pass, the parking lot had a long row of porta johns lined up like toy soldiers, as the visitor center was just as closed as the road at its feet! Coming back down from the top, the memories of our past trips, finally came back to us - the square chunks of boulders at the edge of the roadway instead of guardrails, the trickling waterfalls that dribbled under the roadway before seeping down the valley below, the magnificent deep dark blue St Mary’s Lake and her dainty island in the middle! The receding glaciers on the far jagged peaks! This time we passed thru big patches of yellow golden aspens with faded white or soft pink wildflowers at their feet or waving at us from the sides of the road as we sped downhill. There was less water in the streams now and more curves in the narrow almost 2 lane road. This time we (almost) ran into cattle on the roadway and several tourists taking pictures of some grazing horses next to the roadway! 50 miles east of the park the land is flat and mostly golden or tan, but you can still see the rise of the majestic mountain range behind us! I remember that view from years past! Just east of a “Native American” area and we are parked at another unusual “out west” motel! Saturday morning will be into the sun again!
Friday the 25th we passed thru the foothills and “Native American” areas before entering the gate at West Glacier National Park only to find out that the Road to the Sun was closed 16 miles up the road. We turned around and took the long route around the entire south end of the park on Rt 2. Another delightful road that we have never been on and it gave new beautiful views of the peaks and rivers and the ribbon of railroad track that clung to the side of the mountain or nestled in the valley next to the ever present babbling brook. Up the other side and we finally entered into East Glacier. The last time we were in the park was in 1997 on our way to Alaska and nothing that we saw on our way up this time looked familiar. Last time, the world there was much greener - this time the southeast area just across the lake was totally destroyed by fire and the devastation looked fairly recent. We had driven miles and miles thru acres and acres of tall, thin, gray and black sentinels waiting forlornly to be blown over. Once up at Logan’s Pass, the parking lot had a long row of porta johns lined up like toy soldiers, as the visitor center was just as closed as the road at its feet! Coming back down from the top, the memories of our past trips, finally came back to us - the square chunks of boulders at the edge of the roadway instead of guardrails, the trickling waterfalls that dribbled under the roadway before seeping down the valley below, the magnificent deep dark blue St Mary’s Lake and her dainty island in the middle! The receding glaciers on the far jagged peaks! This time we passed thru big patches of yellow golden aspens with faded white or soft pink wildflowers at their feet or waving at us from the sides of the road as we sped downhill. There was less water in the streams now and more curves in the narrow almost 2 lane road. This time we (almost) ran into cattle on the roadway and several tourists taking pictures of some grazing horses next to the roadway! 50 miles east of the park the land is flat and mostly golden or tan, but you can still see the rise of the majestic mountain range behind us! I remember that view from years past! Just east of a “Native American” area and we are parked at another unusual “out west” motel! Saturday morning will be into the sun again!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Westward Ho British Columbia
Today is Wednesday evening. It’s been a fast 2 days! We left Port Angeles and headed into the morning sun – the first time on our journey that we’ve had to look into the sun coming up in the EAST! Today we were heading to Bellingham Washington as our last stop before we head for Vancouver BC. H chose to take the Seattle bypass, which took us up the peninsula on Rt 20 to Port Townsend where we put the van on a 50 vehicle ferry and took it for a boat ride. On the island we headed north up the island thru several historic/tourist towns and stopped for lunch in Oak Harbor! Zorba’s proved a good choice with a delicious combination of a gyro (H had beef and I had lamb!) and a Greek salad. At the north end of the island was a picturesque bridge, high up on opposite cliffs joining the island to the mainland at a spot called Deception Pass. In the NE distance was a beautiful view of a snow-capped mountain that we used as a compass to guide us the rest of the way to Bellingham. It was Mt Baker and is 10,000 plus ft elevation! In Bellingham we stayed at a very large, very nice Econo Lodge and then took some time to explore the downtown, the waterfront and then walked thru the biggest mall in the area where the Canadians come down to shop. We were looking for our daily fix of ice cream and they had a McD’s in the food court!
Today, Wednesday we were crossing the US/Canadian border at the Peace Arch at 9am. The very nice young man at the customs booth asked H what he doing in that area and H said that when we pulled out of the driveway at home, we were going to Nova Scotia but made a wrong turn. The fella LAUGHED!! Good thing, eh??!! But he did know that we were in Victoria just the day or so before - computers and passports!! On to Vancouver and straight downtown to where the 2010 Winter Olympic ceremonies are going to be held. There is lots and lots of new building going on all around the Canada Place Convention Center. Down in that part of the harbor is the seaplane docking area and a bunch of planes were landing and taking off – possibly going to the Inner Harbor at Victoria. Thru downtown and out thru Stanley Park, over another pretty bridge to West Vancouver to a park on the north side with a view of the bay, river and distant lighthouse. Up and onto Rt 1, completed the circle via North Vancouver. Back across the only expressway bridge and we were out of town. Mt Baker was on our south side now and we are really heading east. Each group of mountain ranges that we’ve crossed or drove thru has had it’s own personality. From Vancouver to Hope and then from Hope on Rt 3 to
Keremeos was no exception. Sometimes when the sun was behind the range of peaks and layers of opposing valleys, there was layer on layer of shades of purple/blue haze getting lighter and lighter the farther away they were. As we passed from one to the other, the pines, and cliffs and rough bare jagged outcropping of rocks came into clear view. In the flat valleys were orchards of apples and peaches next to rows of vegetables and patches of pumpkins and squash and then vineyards of grapes and of course the wineries that go with them.
North out of Penticton to Summerland the 4 lane highway wound between yellow cliffs and the 80-mile long Okanagan Lake. We tried to call our friends Barbee and Terry on H’s cell phone but even after we pulled in their driveway and rang the doorbell (cell phone in hand) we still had NO bars!! Hugs all around and our friendships were quickly renewed while sipping Black Currant Tea (me!) and her pretty red wine on their back deck. The road to their home winds up and around thru orchards and vineyards and the view from the deck is phenomenal! Barbee pointed where the past forest fires scalped the sides of the mountains, answered questions about the gauze covered grapes in the distance and explained about the small apple trees growing in ladder trained shapes in tight lines like vines on fences. H and Terry chatted about the lake and their trailers. It was good to see sweet little Charlie (the elderly little dog that we made diapers for in Florida) and we met their charcoal gray cat, Shade. Then all too soon it was time to head back down the road and find a place to park for the night. Penticton was the town and the spot we chose was the Crown Motel – right across from the beach. Once settled we took our evening stroll on the sidewalk lined with benches along the beach and back on the street side past open-air restaurants and other “resorts”. Thursday we’ll see the area a bit better in the daylight before heading south to the border.
Today, Wednesday we were crossing the US/Canadian border at the Peace Arch at 9am. The very nice young man at the customs booth asked H what he doing in that area and H said that when we pulled out of the driveway at home, we were going to Nova Scotia but made a wrong turn. The fella LAUGHED!! Good thing, eh??!! But he did know that we were in Victoria just the day or so before - computers and passports!! On to Vancouver and straight downtown to where the 2010 Winter Olympic ceremonies are going to be held. There is lots and lots of new building going on all around the Canada Place Convention Center. Down in that part of the harbor is the seaplane docking area and a bunch of planes were landing and taking off – possibly going to the Inner Harbor at Victoria. Thru downtown and out thru Stanley Park, over another pretty bridge to West Vancouver to a park on the north side with a view of the bay, river and distant lighthouse. Up and onto Rt 1, completed the circle via North Vancouver. Back across the only expressway bridge and we were out of town. Mt Baker was on our south side now and we are really heading east. Each group of mountain ranges that we’ve crossed or drove thru has had it’s own personality. From Vancouver to Hope and then from Hope on Rt 3 to
Keremeos was no exception. Sometimes when the sun was behind the range of peaks and layers of opposing valleys, there was layer on layer of shades of purple/blue haze getting lighter and lighter the farther away they were. As we passed from one to the other, the pines, and cliffs and rough bare jagged outcropping of rocks came into clear view. In the flat valleys were orchards of apples and peaches next to rows of vegetables and patches of pumpkins and squash and then vineyards of grapes and of course the wineries that go with them.
North out of Penticton to Summerland the 4 lane highway wound between yellow cliffs and the 80-mile long Okanagan Lake. We tried to call our friends Barbee and Terry on H’s cell phone but even after we pulled in their driveway and rang the doorbell (cell phone in hand) we still had NO bars!! Hugs all around and our friendships were quickly renewed while sipping Black Currant Tea (me!) and her pretty red wine on their back deck. The road to their home winds up and around thru orchards and vineyards and the view from the deck is phenomenal! Barbee pointed where the past forest fires scalped the sides of the mountains, answered questions about the gauze covered grapes in the distance and explained about the small apple trees growing in ladder trained shapes in tight lines like vines on fences. H and Terry chatted about the lake and their trailers. It was good to see sweet little Charlie (the elderly little dog that we made diapers for in Florida) and we met their charcoal gray cat, Shade. Then all too soon it was time to head back down the road and find a place to park for the night. Penticton was the town and the spot we chose was the Crown Motel – right across from the beach. Once settled we took our evening stroll on the sidewalk lined with benches along the beach and back on the street side past open-air restaurants and other “resorts”. Thursday we’ll see the area a bit better in the daylight before heading south to the border.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Westward Ho Victoria
Who needs an alarm clock when you have H?! We had the van parked and were one of the 1st to see the travel agent at the visitor center and booked our room at the Huntingdon Inn just one block from the ferry docks out on the island. We were on the first crossing from Port Angeles to Victoria that day! Our trip over was on the Victoria Express (the red boat in the picture) and the trip back was on the Coho Vehicle and Passenger ferry (the BIG gray boat!). The Huntingdon can be seen in the picture with the seaplane at the dock. It is the immense expanse of white building across the water, just above the gray building pictured on the dock. The Huntingdon is also listed on the historic register along with her sister buildings which are a bed & breakfast and a restaurant. Seaplane tours was a very popular attraction and there was a plane taking off, right out thru the entry channel, every few minutes during the day. The little green boat also at that dock is the Harbor Ferry boat that was both a shuttle and tour boat. There was a big bunch of those little water beetles! Yes, H wants one for Wamplers Lake. The Empress Hotel is one of the oldest buildings in Victoria and is adjoined by the convention center. Yes, it also has a beautiful garden! EVERYWHERE in Victoria there is a beautiful garden. The Parliament building is right around the corner of the harbor from the Empress but unfortunately it was closed on Sunday. We found a cute little café, tucked into the corner of an old square that was a passageway between two buildings and had a delightful breakfast and conversation with the owner/chef, Suzy. Up and down the old streets, in and out of shops, a mini Eaton Center Mall, a Sunday marketplace and up and down the steps of the Empress, the Parliament and around the busy harbor which was lined with native people selling their wares and crafts. H’s feet, legs and back gave out before mine and we rested back at our very comfortable room. Once rested it was off again to walk to the Fisherman’s Wharf that was an odd collection of houses, shacks, fishing boats and tourist shops all floating and moored to creaking docks. Barb’s Fish and Chips served up a tasty basket of fish and fries which we gobbled up while sitting at a picnic table on the dock watching the Harbor water beetles come and go along with a lot of people and their pets. The buildings down at the harbor were lit up at night but our body clocks are still on Toledo time and it’s 3 hours difference here so we never saw them.
The 100-year-old Butchart Gardens is also a National Historic Site and we took the public transit buses to get there Monday morning. The garden is 13 miles from Victoria and covers 55 acres. The Butcharts took a worked out limestone quarry and turned it into a mixture of rare and exotic shrubs, trees and flowers collected during their extensive world travels. There is a sunken garden, a Japanese garden, a rose garden, a dahlia garden, a shade garden, a greenhouse, a Star pond, an Italian Garden, the original residence of the Bucharts, switchback stairs, winding brick pathways, ponds, fountains, scenic overlooks, numerous benches to rest and try to take in the all the views, bronze statues and FLOWERS! All kinds, colors and shades of the rainbow from the palest pinks and yellows to the most vibrant reds, oranges and deep purples! Annuals and perennials! Every shape and size of dahlia (some that even I have at home!) and roses – has to be every named rose in every catalog! Back on the bus and back downtown in time to purchase tickets for our afternoon “cruise” on the Coho - back across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Port Angeles. As always, H wanted to be down inside where it was warm and out of the wind but I spent most of my time up on the top deck! As usual, H’s eyes caught the sight of the seals and the whales and by the time my eyes found the spot where they were - - they weren’t. Back on shore, in the USA, we moved quickly thru customs and across the street to the patiently waiting van. We had unplugged the small refrigerator that we take with us on trips and had filled it with ice while we were to be gone. It was no surprise that the interior of the van was very warm since it had been a sunny day and no sun visor in the front windshield. It was a very great surprise to find that the refrig, now just a cooler, still had a good-sized chunk of ice in it and our milk was still cold! We returned back to the same Riviera Motel for the night and preparations for the next days journey ahead!
The 100-year-old Butchart Gardens is also a National Historic Site and we took the public transit buses to get there Monday morning. The garden is 13 miles from Victoria and covers 55 acres. The Butcharts took a worked out limestone quarry and turned it into a mixture of rare and exotic shrubs, trees and flowers collected during their extensive world travels. There is a sunken garden, a Japanese garden, a rose garden, a dahlia garden, a shade garden, a greenhouse, a Star pond, an Italian Garden, the original residence of the Bucharts, switchback stairs, winding brick pathways, ponds, fountains, scenic overlooks, numerous benches to rest and try to take in the all the views, bronze statues and FLOWERS! All kinds, colors and shades of the rainbow from the palest pinks and yellows to the most vibrant reds, oranges and deep purples! Annuals and perennials! Every shape and size of dahlia (some that even I have at home!) and roses – has to be every named rose in every catalog! Back on the bus and back downtown in time to purchase tickets for our afternoon “cruise” on the Coho - back across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Port Angeles. As always, H wanted to be down inside where it was warm and out of the wind but I spent most of my time up on the top deck! As usual, H’s eyes caught the sight of the seals and the whales and by the time my eyes found the spot where they were - - they weren’t. Back on shore, in the USA, we moved quickly thru customs and across the street to the patiently waiting van. We had unplugged the small refrigerator that we take with us on trips and had filled it with ice while we were to be gone. It was no surprise that the interior of the van was very warm since it had been a sunny day and no sun visor in the front windshield. It was a very great surprise to find that the refrig, now just a cooler, still had a good-sized chunk of ice in it and our milk was still cold! We returned back to the same Riviera Motel for the night and preparations for the next days journey ahead!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)