Washington to British Columbia
Here I am, back again.
Sorta took a break from traveling for a week or so while we were in the Seattle area but we're back at it. We're currently on Vancouver Island in Parksville, which is just north of Nanaimo and on the east side of the island.
OK......after the family reunion, we moved to Joyce's driveway. It was time to "plug in" and to also offload the camper so we could have the new tires installed on the truck. Did I mention that we had new tires ordered for the second time this year? Anyway, new tires were in order, etc. so we moved to Joyce's driveway and got our act together for the most part.
So while we were there, I had yet another birthday. There was a lovely celebration at Vince's Restaurant in the Renton Highlands. I love Vince's. Joyce, my Mom, Kristin, Mitch and the grandkids, my sister Janice and brother-in-law Randy all were there to help celebrate. And Mike, of course. It was very fun.....I got great presents and the food was yummy. Mom paid and I thank her again for that!! Plus she gave me a very old watch on a chain that was her Mother's....my Grandmother's. I didn't have anything of my Grandmother's and I love this piece. And some money which I have yet to spend so the birthday goes on and on. Very nice.
Kristin arranged for and treated me to a highlight and haircut and several other little presents. Janice and Randy bought me a beautiful teacup and saucer....the only one I own and it's very very pretty. Joyce added to the kitty my Mom started for a present yet to be purchased. I did GOOD. And it was fun. I love the picture of the four generations of my female part of the family......thanks everybody for a wonderful birthday.
It was Seafair week in Seattle so the Blue Angels came around and flew over the house a bunch of times. That was exciting. We indeed got new tires and had a fun drive on the freeway going the normal speed limit without the camper loading us down. That was exciting too.
Joyce drove us up to Snoqualmie Pass and we hiked to the old railroad tunnel near Hyak and went to Denny Creek and Snoqualmie Falls. I loved that.....nostalgic for sure. We had my Mom for dinner a couple times at Joyce's and we even made a fresh rubarb pie. It was all good.
But it was time to GO and since we'll be back it wasn't too difficult to say bye bye to everyone and hit the road. We didn't get all that far to begin with....just Everett to see Dave and Janet. They had just returned from sailing up in Canada and we descended on them before they even had a chance to catch their breath. And with projects!!! So Janet and I visited while the "boys" worked on the camper.
We had a little incident in Texas with a rock wall on the side of a road that we should not have been on and decided that putting a hatch type door with storage behind would turn a bad thing into a wonderful thing. And it worked out well. Can't see the hole in the side of the camper because it's now a nice new door and the storage is extremely handy. Thanks Dave for the help with that for sure.
We spent a couple nights at their home and had a good visit. We'll probably go by and see them on the way back to Seattle as well. Janet has the most incredible yard. She even has a huge banana tree growing out back! Bigger than most I've seen in Hawaii. We always enjoy Dave and Janet a ton. They come to visit us in Kauai every Christmas whether we're home or not. Now that is true friendship!!
So, we headed out for Canada. With a gun. Opps! That was supposed to be okay according to what information Mike had gleaned from the internet, but not so. After about an hour at customs (and a through search of our camper. I'm so glad I told the truth about how much wine, etc. we had) they said we had to go back to the US and try again without the gun. So....we found a locker in Blaine, stored the shotgun and went to Birch Bay for the night. Next day they let us in but they sure wanted to know where that gun was.......no biggie. But if a bear eats us on this trip I want it known that it's Canadian Customs fault!! They said next year when we come on our way to Alaska that there will be no problem with bringing "the gun" along. We'll allow an extra day just in case!!
So, we made it to Vancouver Island after waiting for the ferry for only about three hours and found a place to stay just north of Nanaimo. Then we drove out to Ucluelet on the west coast. One of my favorite places on earth. Barkley Sound. So special for so many reasons. When you look at the picture of the lighthouse with the islands offshore you will be seeing the passageway that we took to make landfall after sailing twenty six days from Kauai to Canada in 2004. You'll also be seeing the islands where Kristin and I scattered her sister, Wendy's, remains seventeen years ago this month. Truly a place that I carry in my heart always.
We spent several nights in Ucluelet and four more in Toquart Bay, which is on Barkley Sound further inland. The weather was pretty good for this time of year. It's August and they call it "fogust" out there because when it's warm inland it's foggy on the coast. We took our dinghy out on the sound and visited a couple of the favorite anchorages from our sailing years. Got some oysters and saw bears and eagles and so many pretty sights. I got sad about not having a sailboat any longer. Funny, it never bothered me in Mexico seeing all those places I once sailed, but in Barkley it did. I truly love that place. It was great to visit there and I know I'll be back.
So today we made our way over to the east side of Vancouver Island. We needed diesel, propane, groceries, misc. camper stuff, a liquor store, to do laundry, utilize email, on and on. So it has been one of those days where we don't play much but tomorrow we're off to do whatever. We're taking our time for sure. Joyce may come up and join us at some point. She's working out the bugs in her little motorhome right now at Denny Creek so we'll see what happens there.
We plan to meet up with Dave and Eddie Lee who are up here on their boat and also Kyra and Rodger who live on the island and we met in Mexico. Lots to do and we're looking forward to all of it. Then, when the weather starts to suck.....we're going home!!! Hele on to Kauai!!!
I'm going to bed where, you guessed it, Mike is already snoring away.
Aloha, Gayle
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