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.
