August 30 The road from Jasper to Lake Louise

The road from Jasper to Lake Louise is one of the most spectacular mountain drives you could possibly take. Impossibly steep mountains, rushing mountain rivers, glaciers, ice fields and azure blue lakes. I’m sure this is so as about 10% of the time we got glimpses of the incredible scenery. Unfortunately, on this fine summer day we had low clouds, rain, snow and intermittent fog. We did get a couple of breaks, at our stop at the Columbia Ice field on the Athabasca glacier it was mostly cloud free and we got a few pics of the glacier. We were able to see a few of the mountain tops between the cloud cover. The road is about 150 miles between Jasper and Lake Louise and while we saw quit a few spectacular vistas I know we missed a lot.


Tonight we are in a huge national park RV park, over 200 sites. We were warned that this is grizzly bear country and to keep our campsite especially clean. The tenting portion of this park is surrounded by an electric fence to keep the bears from harassing the campers. We are assured that the 7000 volts will only cause temporary damage to errant campers and that they normally don’t try to span the fence a second time.

We are hoping for better weather tomorrow so that we might go canoeing. In one of the brochures it mentions traditional Canadian lake water sports, canoeing and ice skating…. Swimming is definitely not an option.

In large national campgrounds they have evening presentations about the parks, the wild life and natural history. We have been to two of these. They are not what I expected to see from my experience at Yellowstone or Yosemite which were pretty formal lectures with a speaker, usually a naturalist, and slides. In Canada the presenters are young park employees, they didn’t identify themselves as park naturalists. Their presentations were “homemade” using homemade props, puppets and a few slides’ and they always seem to enlist “volunteers” from the audience. One presentation was a takeoff from the TV show “Survivors” where the animals in the park joined teams and voted a few of the animals off the park as they could no longer “survive. The other presentation was performed by a single very charming young lady, who ”took” us in her time machine to various times in the park, where she changed into period costume and discussed animal management practices from the 1900s, 1960s to now. It was all very simple, but creative and informative. I’m sure the kids that do these presentations, have other real jobs and that these performances are something they do for fun and in an attempt to educate the public to respect the parks and the animals that live here.

Aug 28 Jasper Alberta Its SNOWING!!!

We’ve  been in Jasper for two days it has turned cold and rainy.  Summertime in the Rockies.  It is beautiful here when the cloud cover breaks up and you can see the mountain ranges on all sides.  There are wild rivers, blue lakes and wild animals in the forests,  an alpine Disneyland.  We’ve had a few good hikes, mostly dry in broken cloudy days between the thunderstorms.  We rode up Mount Whistler on the Jasper Tram and were lucky enough to be able to see most of the area through the clouds that were racing by in the fierce wind.  I climbed up a ridge behind the tram lookout lodge for my alpine experience in 32 degree weather wind gusting to 25mph.   After a thorough face freeze and ear aches in both ears I felt in had had enough fun in the frigid arctic environment, that I soon retreated back to the lodge.

Today we took three excursions, to Athabasca Falls, Maligne Canyon and to Lake Maligne.  The falls were quite spectacular, not so much in height but in the way the water had carved out chasms in the rock.  The Maligne Canyon is a narrow rock canyon 100 feet deep, again cut through rock in various shapes.    Lake Maligne was supposed to be one of Canada’s most beautiful alpine lakes and I sure it was.  Unfortunately, when we got there it was snowing!  So much for the scenic boat ride were  planning to take on lake.  We settled for a lunch of a hearty beef stew while watching the snow come down.  On the ride back to town cars were backed up to stare  at a bear by the side of the road.  There was an illuminated sign on this road warning people to stay in their cars if they encounter wild animals on the side of the road.  Of course, no one paid any attention and piled out on to the road.  One guy with a huge camera came running out of the brush, we all thought, and I’m sure he thought, that the bear was coming to get him.  Reminded me about the joke about the bear and the tennis shoes.

Aug 24 Hope to Kamloops Aug 25 Lake Paul to Blue River

Not much to report, pretty much of a travel day.  We are trying to get to Jasper and Banff before the labor day weekend.  People tell us that is the last busy if not the busiest time of year.  Jasper is about 250 miles from Kamloops which is about a two day trip for us

Kamloops turned out to be a pretty fair sized city, 90 thousand souls.  I had the mistaken assumption that the towns would be getting smaller the further north we travel.  From a Canadian's point of view Kamloops is probably not particularly northern in the scheme of things.   Calgary and Edmonton are major cities and quite a bit further north from where we are.

We decided to stay in a provincial campground away from the hustle-bustle of the town, freeways and train routes.  Our last night in Hope turned out to be a noisy one. The RV park we stayed at while pastorial in appearance, turned out to be between the Canadian Railway line and the freeway.  Trains were passing through all night long, and combined with the early morning truck traffic, made for an intermittent night of sleep.

The Lake Paul campground turned out to be the campground about a mile from the actual lake.  We had visions of a lakeside campsite, but in reality we were camped above the lake about a mile away.  The sites were nice, well spaced apart and fairly level for us to back into.  There were 90 sites and the campground was only about 20% filled.   We walked down to Lake Paul, a pleasant mountain lake, with a swimming area and picnic grounds.  There was a warning sign about water sports in BC.  It said that if you fall in the water, you have about 1minute to control your breathing, 10 minutes for the effective use of your arms and legs, and if you are lucky enough to be wearing a life jacket, you could survive for maybe as much as an hour before hyperthermia would kill you.  It sure made me want to think twice about swimming.  In reality Santa Cruz swimming isn’t much safer I suppose.

Aug 25  Lake Paul to Blue River

Another travel day.  Blue River is just in the middle of no where on the way to Jasper.  Not much of a town,  gravel roads, railroad switching station,two stores, one gas station, 1 RV park.  It looks like a railroad town where maybe the crews change and people employed by the railroad live here.  It is similar in appearance to Gerlach.  Small run down houses that look like they spend a lot of time in the snow.   However upon further inspection, we discovered what looked to be a 5 star helicopter ski resort here.  Very upscale cabins and  lodges  with helicopter pads to carry rich skiers to the tops of mountains.  It doesn't look like the rich skiers spend any of their money in town.  

August 23 Victoria to Hope

Dede waiting to drive on to the ferry

OTHELLO TUNNELS

Left Victoria this morning on a bright clear and somewhat warm morning (60 degrees) We were headed to Sidney to pick up the ferry to Vancouver on Highway 17. Vancouver Island had great highways, they’re four lane, divided, well paved, well marked, but no overpasses. The posted speed limit is 90km (55mph) but there are stop lights about every 4-5 miles or so. More in or around communities. With all those stops, it is hardly a highway. The road from Victoria to Sidney ends at the ferry terminal. It is kind of like going through a toll booth, only the toll in our case was $217.


The BC Ferries are very modern, three levels of car decks, 3 passenger decks, with amenities such as a day spa, private lounge, video arcade, computer stations with WiFi, a pretty nice buffet, a latte and ice cream bar and the souvenir shop. There was a naturalist on board giving a presentation on and animals who live in this part of the sea. The only amenity that we found lacking was the accommodation for Dede. She was not allowed on any of the passenger decks, and was relegated to this small room on one of the car decks in the middle of the ship. Given that we didn’t want to spend our time crossing the Georgia Strait in an enclosed room in the bowels of the ship we took Dede back to the trailer and locked her in for the 90 minute trip.

We arrived just south of Vancouver headed off to find Highway 1, the road that spans the length of Canada from west coast to east coast. (US highway 1s both west coast and east coast travel north and south, Canada’s highway 1 goes east and west, go figure) I was greatly relieved to see that on the mainland the Canadian government has seen fit to invest in overpasses. I was concerned about all those crossing roads that I would have to stop for or at least slow down for between Vancouver and Halifax.

We arrived in Hope BC in the afternoon. Their claim to fame is they have on old railroad line that has stations and tunnels named after Shakespearian characters, the Othello tunnels, etc., and that the Canadian Japanese were interned here during WWII. I had thought that the interment was only an American disgrace, and did not realize that the Canadians participated as well.

Tomorrow we are off to Kamloops.

Travels with Dede

Im tired and I am not walking any further!

Dede is ready to hit the road

Many of you have been asking how Dede is doing on the trip. (For those who haven’t met Dede she is our dog) Dede is doing just fine. She is a good traveler, doesn’t complain much and seems to be pretty happy as long as she can hear or see Patsy. In the truck she either sits in Patsy’s lap or in her cage in the back seat. She doesn’t seem to mind. She likes sitting in front of the trailer on her blanket watching the world go by when were parked. She has her bed and her toys and seems to be at home where ever we are.


She is a total flirt, will approach anyone in hope of a pat on the head, and being the cute dog that she is, attracts tourists of all catagories: young,old, male, female foreign and domestic to ask if they can pet her or hold her. She has stopped traffic in the Butchart Gardens, been petted by burly bikers, and pestered by Italian children. She does it all in good humor and never seems to tire of the attention.

Her one complaint about this trip is that sometimes the walks are just too long. A little exercise is a good thing, but a nice brisk walk on the beach can get tiring after awhile. When that happens, she lies down on the ground with both her hind legs and front legs sprawled out behind and in front of her and refuses to move. At that point unless we want to coax her along at a very slow pace, about the only thing you can do is pick her up and carry her along. She rather likes being carried, but it doesn’t do much for her exercise regimen.

When we get ready to pack up and start preparing to hitch the truck to the trailer, she knows were about to leave and asks to be put in the cab of the truck. No way does she want to be left behind. She sits quietly in the passenger seat while I’m jumping in and out of the cab trying to line up the truck to the trailer. Once were underway she sits quietly with Pats or in her cage.

One of the things I have noticed on this trip, is I believe more people travel with pets than not. We thought that we would have to find special RV parks that would tolerate animals, but they all do these days. At most parks we’ve been to, there has been a constant parade of dogs and their owners out for a stroll, with plastic bags in hand of course. Dogs are not allowed on some of the national park trails and not in most buildings, But dogs on leashes can be in outdoor restraurants, city parks and in most public areas.

As the trip progresses I will keep you up to date on Dede’s adventures.

August 18 - 23 Victoria BC

Dede visits the Butchard Gardens

Fancy Houseboat

Took the car ferry across from Port Angeles to Victoria.  The day started out a bit overcast but cleared as we crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  A bit stressful for me pulling the trailer into the confined space in the ferry, they put me right next to a large bulkhead and when I finally looked, the trailer was only about 6" off the wall. On the other side of us was a huge 5th wheel tailer hugged up next to us as well.  Getting off the ferry was just as exciting as we made a 90 degree turn inside the ferry to go out a side hatch on to the dock.  Getting through downtown Victoria was not a hard as I thought it might be, as we drove right through the tourist center past the Empress Hotel no less.  No time for High Tea.  Our RV park is right on the water in West Bay.  The seaplanes takeoff and land right off the shore.  We can watch the boat traffic in the harbor.
The marina has some very impressive boats as well as the most upscale and attractive houseboats I have ever seen.

We went to the Butchart Gardens this morning.  These gardens were built out of an old limestone quarry next to a cement factory Talk about green land reclamation!  These gardens are tended like no other I've seen.  55 acres of blooming flowers and lawns and not a weed in sight. Over a million visitors a year, the Butcharts are probably doing better now than when they were in the cement business. 

We went on to Sidney by the Sea to see their Maritime Museum.  Apparently it got moved from its harborside location as there is a hotel there now and no one could tell us where it went.  Somehow they lost their museum which unfortunately is advertised in their tourist brochure  as an attraction not to miss while in Sidney.

Aug 15,16 Port Townsend

Port Townsend Wooden Boat Foundation 

We are taking shorter hops around the Olympic Penninsula now as we have some time before we head off to Victoria.   We spent the morning taking a mini tour of Bainbridge Is visiting a beach park and looking at the fine homes with beachfront and a killer view of Puget Sound with Seattle and Mt Rainer in the distance.  I am sure on most days this view can't be seem through the rain and fog but on a sunny day it is outragious!

Upon hooking up we ran into our first procedural problem in that the trailer would not  hitch up just right and then when I thought I had figured it out the trailer wouldn't move!  After a bit of head scratching I figured out that the emergency brake cable had become disconnected to the trailer which causes the trailer brakes to lock up hard.  Thankfully just pluging it back into its receiver solved the problem.

We moved up the coast to Port Townsend about 45 miles north and camped at on old Army fort  Fort Worden.  It has been preserved as a multiple use complex for the town,  county, and state part of which is a state park and RV campground.  It has old aritillery batteries that used to guard the Strait of Juan de Fuca from I,m not sure who, when they were built in 1908.  It is a great way to use the facility in support of the local community.

Port Townsand is a quaint community with victorian buildings and a old town center.  My faverite place wasa the Wooden Boat Foundation, where they build and restore wooden boats.  It has a school as well to train aspiring boatwrights.  Being a wanabe aspiring boarwright maybe someday I'll be back!

Aug 14 Seattle

We boarded the Bainbridge Ferry to Seattle on a bright, clear, sunny morning. Expected high today in the high eighties. The locals are sweating, were a bit hot and grateful to be free of the fog.

We haven't been to Seattle in 20 years, it is a spectacularly scenic city with modern skyscrapers, the blue sound and snow covered Mt Rainer in the background. We hopped off the ferry and headed off to the Pike St market. It was packed, but the same zany atmosphere as I remember, fish mongers throwing huge salmon to each other to the thrill of the customers, huge stacks of sea food, fresh veggies, and cut flowers. Even as crowded as it was on this Saturday morning it was a fun and exciting place to be.

We left the market and headed toward the Space Needle via the waterfront bus. I first visited the Space Needle in 1962 with my parents when I was 14. It used to be red, but now its white. The line to go up in the Needle was far too long for our sensibilities so we took a pass. In '62 Seattle hosted a World's Fair with the Space Needle as the signature theme. I remember an exhibit of the home of the future, with microwave ovens and modern furnishings. And then there was the monorail, the transportation of the future.

Today there is the Experience Music Project, a Rock and Roll museum housed in a really far out hall with wavy walls and and undulating roof lines... talk about cool. It was so big there was really no way to take a picture of it from the ground. You will have to Google it. Inside there were exhibits dedicated to various artists, Jimi Hendricks, Mary Wilson and the Supremes (Diana Ross not mentioned) and lots of others. There was a stage where you could perform your favorite song backed up by the band that made it famous. Given my lack of talent, I passed up that opportunity to embarrass myself in front of strangers.

We rode back to the city center on the Monorail, the same one built in 1962. Somehow it didn't look or feel like the transportation of the future... just an elevated train that has no intermediate stops and only goes about two miles. We walked back to the ferry terminal and sailed back to Bainbridge Island. It was a brief trip but very satisfying, to visit a familiar place not seen in many years.

Aug 11,12,13 Willapa Harbor to Poulsbo, Wa.

We left Tillimook with the intention of going to Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River. It was a cold, grey, foggy morning and by the time we arrived at Astoria around noon it was still grey. Not seeing anything of the town or surrounding rural areas that seemed appealing, we crossed the long bridge over the Columbia into Washington. We stopped at Dismal Nitch on the Washington side of the Columbia,aptly named on this foggy August grey day.

We headed onward hoping for a break in the fog away from the coast slightly inland. About 50 miles inland we arrive at Raymond Wa. to a place called Willapa Harbor. Looking for and RV park we saw a sign Golf and RV Park 1 mile. We turned in and drive a mile or so until we came to a clearing in the forest and there was the golf course and along side of the first tee a bunch of short posts with electrical hook ups and water taps. We thought we were pulling into the fairway at first, but there was a sign telling us to select a site and report up to the clubhouse to check in. By this time the overcast had lifted and we found our selves surrounded by green parked on a huge lawn that was an extension of the driving range. There were 20 sites or so but we were the only ones there in the RV park. We used the driving range to hit some balls and I played a couple of rounds on this pristine 9 hole course.

Willapa Habor today is pretty grim, its heyday was about 100 years ago when the harbor was lined with lumber mills, today only one mill remains and I'm sure it is automated. The two local establishments that seem to be still in full swing is the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion Hall. Most of the buildings are pretty old and in disrepair. In all this grimness this town has a great sense of humour, just about on every block were full size silhouette plate steal sculptures of people and animals in various poses, activities, past and future. They were all done with a touch of whimsee.
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We pushed on today with the promise of warm weather in the Seattle area, mid 80s. Our goal was to get as close to Bainbridge Island as we could. From Bainbridge you can take a passenger ferry into Seattle that puts you into downtown. We found a park just a mile or so from Bainbridge in Poulsbo. Poulsbo is a town that celebrates its Norwegian heritage and has the cutest downtown. They also celebrate the banana slug, dressing them up in costume (clay figurines) and have some sort of treasure hunt in one of the local parks to find them. And we thought we were the only ones to venerate the humble banana slug.

Aug 8-10 Bandon to Flornece to Tillamook

Left Bandon headed for Florence Or., almost in the center of the Oregon Coast. Advertised as one of the best towns in the country to retire to. I'm not sure what a town has to have to get that distinction, but Florence seemed pleasant enough. Most these coastal towns seem mostly to rely on tourism. The boom days of logging and of fishing seem to be over. Lots of aging infrastructure from those industries still exist, but for the most part do not look to be in operation. The historic downtown buildings are mostly geared to the tourist. There are lots of vacation homes and upscale neighborhoods on the fringes of these towns, so I guess the coast must be an escape from the greater metropolitan cities from the interior valley.

We stayed in Sutton Campground about 4 miles out of town. Being a national park, and we being old got to stay for a mere $10 a night. We had a secluded site with no hook up but close to the camp facilities. Near to our camp was the beach and sand dunes. We trudged across the dunes to a beach maybe 10 miles long with not a soul in sight. We left our shoes on the beach so we would know where to traverse the dunes to get back to our car.

The next day we took a day tour to the attraction that has been a must see for the last 70 years or so, the Sea Lion Cave. For years if you visited the Sea Lion Cave the proprietor would put a bumper sticker on your car, bright yellow, SEA LION CAVE. Travelling along Highway 101 for hundreds of miles you would see those signs on cars. I think the Mystery Spot folks in Santa Cruz did this as well. I wonder who started this scam first. There were no sea lions in the cave right now, but we did see some on the shore near the mouth of the cave.

We went on to visit the Heceta Lighthouse, built in 1892 one of forty or so lighthouses built along the Pacific coast. It is still operational, but more of a tradition than a vital navigation aid. It is operated by the Oregon park service, the lighthouse keepers house is now a bed and breakfast.

Today we moved on to Tillimook, famous for its cheese. We visited the cheese factory, bought some cheddar, had an ice cream cone. They too have a lighthouse, and a great beach. There were some 14 year olds actually swimming in the surf without wet suits. They looked like they were having a lot of fun. They eventually emerged from the surf to the beach clearly suffering from hypothermia. After much jumping and rubbing of limbs they seemed to recover.

Aug 7 Klamath River to Bandon Oregon

Woke up to wet, drizzly fog. Drip. drip, drip so much for summer on the coast of California this year. Took off at the crack of 10:00, as it takes a while to make breakfast, walk the dog, and hitch up the trailer to the truck. We are getting better at it but it is still a learning experience. Off through the fog with headlights on to Crescent City. Since we had little or no cell phone coverage for the last couple of days we checked in with family and friends once we got near town. A few miles out of Crescent City we crossed into Oregon and in a few more miles we broke out of the fog to a beautiful scenic Oregon coastline. The coast here is wild a dramatic, steep cliffs, large rocks strewn along the coast and many a mile or so from shore, rough surf crashing around the rocks, white spume tumbling in the waves. While you really shouldn't get in the water, this coast is very appealing to walk along the beaches or view from a vista.

Our goal today was to drive to Bandon, a small harbor town, with a historic downtown, rugged beach, and apparently world class golf at $275 a round in a remote part of southern Oregon. We wanted a good seafood dinner in a nice restaurant with a view of the sea. That we were able to accomplish. We walked on the beach in a misty fog that drifted in and out. One moment we would be in white cloud and then suddenly in bright white sunshine and then back into white cloud. We met people who were sifting through the gravelly patches of the beach with their fingers looking for small agate stones. I guess they were going to make jewelery from them.

Aug 5 & 6 Willits to Myers Flat to Klamath River

We left Willits at around 10:00am headed for Myers Flat which is on the Eel river and next to the Avenue of the Giants. Only about 90 miles up the road we had a leisurely trip up 101 which alternates from two lanes to four lanes every few miles. We stopped at BenBow for a break, did not go into the fancy old english style hotel, but look on at the Eel River. This is normally the site of the annual Reggae Festival but for some reason this year it was cancelled.

At Myers Flat we stayed at the Giant Redwoods RV park. Very rustic, bathrooms to be avoided at all costs, but the river ran close by and the camp was less than half occupied. These rural areas look to be quite depressed, boarded up stores and restaurants depressed looking locals walking along the roads. These areas obviously depend on the tourist and dope trade and there doesn't seem to be a lot of tourists. We went for a walk amongst the giant redwoods and they are grand. Even the ones toppled on the ground are impressive in their massive size.

Next day we moved on to Klamath River, where the river meets the Pacific. We had visions of big salmon dinners at homely restaurants with fresh caught fish out of the river. Not to be, the only restaurant was a Subway and the only fish we could buy was some smoked salmon which was very good but not exactly what we were jonesing for. We tried to buy fish from the local Indians but they had none to sell us. Were staying a park right on the river which caters to fishermen but we din not see any one with fish. Tomorrow it is on to southern Oregon and maybe fish for lunch at Coos Bay.

August 4,2010 Ben Lomond to Willits Day 1

Well the day to leave finally arrived! We tried to start out the day as if it was our normal routine; Pats got up first and took Dede (our dog) for a walk in the park. I muddled around with my usual morning routine, substituting a few tasks in place of reading the morning paper which we stopped taking delivery of. Pats went off to get a real walk with Bobbie after bringing Dede back. I continued to gather up last minute stuff to put in the trailer or to pack, cleaned up the kitchen, watered some plants. Pats and Bobbie returned and Bobbie bid us goodbye and took our car to be stored at her house. We had one load of laundry to do, so as to put clean sheets on the beds. Bobbie called after a while to let us know that Patsy's wallet was in the Prius and that we might want to pick it up on our way out of town.

At the crack of 10:45, with laundry done and beds made and nothing more we could think of to delay our departure, we locked the house, locked up the trailer, and slowly dragged the trailer off our driveway onto the street. Our driveway, while short, is a bit steep and the back of the trailer scraps across the tarmac with a terrible grinding noise. It has little wheels on the back bumper, but it sounds as if the whole trailer is coming apart. Because we are also on a blind corner on a busy street, Pats has to stand out in the street to let me know when I can pull out on to the road. Once on Glen Arbor, I usually drive a little bit to a straight stretch of road before I stop. This means that Pats has to run after the truck and jump in quickly before the next cars coming careening around the curve, potentially to run into the back of us. Off we go to Scott's Valley to get our wallet and one final "Goodbye"

Going over Hiway 17 is always a slow affair towing a trailer; cars just hate to get behind a trailer. As luck would have it, we got in line behind a logging truck with a full load of redwood logs. He was travelling at 30 to 35 mph, a speed that we could keep up with and not feel guilty about holding up the line of traffic behind us. We could always blame our slow speed on the logging truck in front. On the flat we can usually drive at 50-55 mph. The trip through the Bay Area was uneventful, lots of traffic, but life in the slow lane is a lot less stressful. Onward north up Hiway 101 we go.

Just outside of Ukiah we started making calls to couple of RV parks. We used to have a big RV park directory with thousands of listings to leaf through and call ahead to see if there is space available in the park. Now a days it is all online, but if you don't have a cellular data connection, you are out of luck until you can find a hot spot. Most trailer parks now offer WIFI, but the speed is minimal given the number of users. Google Maps is great, but tonight we found that it was painfully slow to respond to searches and to paint the maps.

After a couple of calls, we were able to book into a KOA Willits, at $50 per night. A big park with lots of activities for families with kids. Swimming, disc golf, catch and release trout pond, camp fire shows, a dog park, petting zoo, and a stable were all available. The first RVers I met (in the hot tub) were John and Kate, "full timers". The State of Missouri demolished their house to widen the highway, so they sold everything, bought a big ass RV and hit the road...Didn't look back. They like to travel about a 100 miles or so and stay at a place for two or three days and then move on. They plan on spending the winter in Texas.

Almost Ready August 3, 2010

Tomorrow is the day we leave. I think we are ready, but it is daunting to think that we are really leaving for nearly a year or so. This past week or so has been a whirl wind of activity not particularly related to this trip.

My son Don, got married to Julie last weekend, which meant that as parents of the groom we held the rehersal dinner at the house. In addition, my daugther Liz and her wife Stephany came to stay with us along with Noah Lee my new grandson! Noah being only 3 weeks old slept most of the time throughout all of the festivities including the wedding ceramony. He was a very good house guest.

After all the partying, and saying goodbye to friends and relatives, we were able to get to the task of packing the trailer and the truck. It felt more like we were moving away as we pretty much packed up most of our personal stuff either for the trip or for storage. Now that alot of our stuff is out of the house, the house echos when we talk. Just like when you go into an empty room. At this point I think we are both pretty tired and just want to get on the road and start the adventure.

I have been reading "Travels with Charlie" by John Steinbeck a book about his 3 month camper trip which he made in 1960 alone but with his dog Charlie. Steinbeck used Charlie to meet people along his journey and made many friends by plying them with free booze. It seemed to work pretty well for John, we'll have to see if that socilizing style is still in vogue.

Well tomorrow is the day, and we plan to get on the road by the crack of 10:00am. No point in trying to add to the commute when you can only go 35 mph over the mountains. I'm sure we will need the time to take that last look around to see if we forgot to pack something.