MAY 21 Kelso to Bellingham

We left Kelso at 9 am, heading north to Bellingham,

Mickey is still not himself, has the runs, so we are glad to be heading home.
 With everyone of his  "events" we appreciate the benefit that must come with short haired dogs because Mickey needs a full wash before being allowed back in the truck!

The weather is getting cooler and greyer but at least it isn't raining.

We had to stop just south of Seattle, quickly finding an exit because it was obvious Mickey had to go.

We found a park to let him out then made it back to the I-5 for the always relaxing drive through downtown Seattle.

Thankfully the traffic wasn't too bad and I have kind of learned which lane to stay in. The right lane that slow vehicles like ours should stay in  all to frequently turns into an exit only lane, which means I have to merge left but you can drive for a mile with your signal on and no one gives you an inch.
Good for the blood pressure!

We stopped in Everett  for lunch at a Burger King then went on as far as Burlington where we stopped at a Camping World RV store, big whoop, we bought a sewer hose. Let Mickey attempt another BM , then continued on to Bellingham.

We wanted to see a Trader Joes grocery store that my niece Kathy had told us about. The GPS told us where to find one. It was incredibly busy but we bought some groceries and can now strike it off our list of places to see.

Finally arrived at the Bellingham RV Park around 4.

We could have made it home tonight but we like to stop here to have a chance to decompress before the border and the drive to the ferry, besides, we told Stephen we wouldn't be home till Sunday so don't want to surprise him a day early!

Tomorrow we will have a leisurely drive to Blaine and the duty free store before heading across the border and on to Horseshoe Bay for the ferry ride home.

As of this time  the world hasn't ended, for us at least, so I guess that guy will have to come up with a new date.
Glad I didn't max out the credit card after all!

May 20 Canyonville to Kelso, Washington

It was hard to leave 7 Feathers this morning , the sun was shining and it was getting warm. Got underway by 9:30.
We stopped at a Safeway in Roseburg to pick up some more wine, there's a sale on, 30% off a bottle plus another 10% if you buy six.Considering that a bottle that sells for $15 in Canada is about $6 here, before the sale, it's hard to pass up.

We had an easy drive to just south of Eugene where we stopped at a rest stop and made some sandwiches for lunch.
 Mickey is a little under the weather, not himself and he has diarrhea. We gave him part of a Pepto-Bismal tablet, which is okay for dogs, so we hope he feels better soon.

We continued on to an outlet mall just south of Portland to get a few things.
I was going to stop at Camping World, an RV store, but I wanted to get through Portland before rush hour so we passed on it.
We hit Portland around 3pm and the traffic was building. It took about 45 minutes of stop and go crawl to get the few miles through the city. It is such a maze of bridges and overpasses , I always dread it when pulling the trailer.

Once through,with no collisions, it was a 40 minute drive to our stop for the night, Brook Hollow Rv park in Kelso, Washington. $34 including tax with Good Sam discount. We've stayed here before , it's a nice clean park, a convenient distance between Portland and Bellingham, which will be our next stop, about 3 and 1/2 hours up the road.
We arrived about 4:30, got set up without unhooking the truck, and made dinner.
Mickey seems to doing better. His appetite is back and he wants to chase things so I guess he will be okay. He may just have been upset about having to stay in the trailer alone yesterday while we went to the casino. He gets really stressed when left alone in the trailer. He's fine if he is in the truck but it gets too warm to leave him there.

The End of the World is all in the news here, some fanatic has predicted it for May 21, 2011

I should have maxed out the credit card!

We hope our reservations on the Sunday ferry are still good after hearing about the End of the World coming tomorrow!

May 18-19 7 Feathers RV Resort, Canyonville, Oregon

On our drive along the Umpqua River yesterday we passed several large herds of elk beside the road and saw lots of people fishing on the river.

7 Feathers RV Resort

 After we got set up we made a quick trip to the casino to get our players cards which are free and give you a discount at the RV park and on gas at their station.
I lost $8 in about 5 minutes so we returned to the trailer for dinner and catch up the blog.

Today, the 19th,  we slept late then went into nearby Roseburg to buy a small barbecue I had seen was on sale.
We returned to the park and sat in the warm sun and read our books and setup the new barbie. It's over 75 here today, first shorts day of the year for us.

We left Mickey in the trailer, although he hates being left alone,and went to the casino for dinner. We lucked out to find that Thursday is their seafood buffet night.


We stuffed ourselves with crab and clams and shrimp then tottered into the casino to play the slots for a while.

7 Feathers Casino

I have no luck at all, I lost my $20 in about 1/2 hr. Karen played hers and finally quit only $5 down.

Tomorrow we head north for the Washington- Oregon border.

May 16 to 18

Monday morning was nice and sunny.
We all headed south to Florence  to stay at Honeyman State Park on the edge of the Oregon sand dunes
On Tuesday we went to Sandland  Adventures for a dune buggy tour.
We chose the one hour "Fast and Exiting Tour" on what is called a sand rail. Kind of a high powered dune buggy hotrod. Karen chose to wait in the truck
We hit speeds of up to 60 mph, going straight up and down almost vertical dunes then a drive along the shore. It was an exciting experience!
After the ride we went and explored the old area of Florence. Karen and I had a lunch of clam chowder at Mo's, a popular place on the coast.

On Wednesday we parted company with the Diggles and Higgins. They are continuing on to California and we drove to 7 Feathers RV Resort in Canyonville to spend a couple of days before beginning to head home.

May 15



Astoria Column

Rainy morning in Cannon Beach. There is a farmers market in Astoria today so we and the Diggles decided to drive back to see it , Frank and Sue have taken Kirby to a walk in vet clinic to hopefully find out what is causing him to be sick. Hard to enjoy your trip when you’re worrying about your pet.

 We bought some produce and stuff at the market then Karen and I had lunch at a fish and chip place that only serves take-out from an old fishing boat called The Bow Picker, sitting on dry land . Great food, the fish is deep fried tuna.

After lunch we drove up the hill to the top of Astoria to see the Astoria Column. The Higgins and Diggles had seen it the day before and said it was a must see. It is a tall column like a lighthouse with a stairwell inside that you climb 150 steps to the top. Once outside you have a fantastic view of the Columbia River and surrounding countryside. My legs were complaining after the climb!

View from the Column

We then drove to Fort Clatsop which is a State Park on the sight of where  Lewis and Clark  spent the winter after arriving on their expedition to the west coast.

Came back to the rv park and we all watched the Canucks hockey game in the spacious Higgins trailer then we watched the Survivor finale.

Only in America !

Everyone was happy, the Canucks won, Boston Rob won Survivor and Kirby had his first solid poo in a week!  I should say everyone except Karen was happy, she doesn’t like Boston Rob!

May 14 Cannon Beach

We all went our separate ways to Astoria this morning. Frank and Sue are taking Kirby to a Vet. He has had diarrhea and been throwing up for a few days and we are all worried about him.

No, we didn't buy any discounted Christians!

Rick and Susan went to the local Pig and Pancake breakfast restaurant and we went and did some shopping at an Outlet mall and Costco before going for lunch at a local brewpub.
We came back to Cannon beach and walked out to Haystack Rock and threw the ball for Mickey about 100 times.
After we were all tired out we came back to the RV park and did some laundry then compared stories with the rest of the group as they returned .



Mickey the ball chaser!

May 13 Port Townsend to Cannon Beach

The 3 Nanaimo Rigs

We left  Port Townsend about 8:30 am for our drive south.
After keeping in touch on our Walmart cell phones that we bought for $10 , we all met for lunch on the side of the road in South Bend, Washington. It's on Willapa Inlet and Willapa oysters are world famous, there are lots of oyster companies  along the road with their piles of shells..
The weather today is the best so far, sunny and 17.
 From there we drove another 2 hours over the bridge to Astoria and on to Cannon Beach.
As soon as we had got set up at the Cannon Beach RV Park, we took Mickey for his first run in years on an Oregon beach. They stretch for miles and he loves to chase his ball on the hard sand. He loves to chase it but not necessarily bring it back , so I get just as much exercise as he does.

Mickey and the Puffin

We cooked some hamburgers on the grill then tried to sit around the fire but it started to rain so we all retired to our trailers.
We have cable TV and wifi so life is good!

May12 Port Townsend

We awoke to a sunny, windy morning.

Frank and Sue headed off to do some sightseeing before Frank had to take the truck back to Port Angeles.

Karen and I and Rick and Susan went for breakfast at a café overlooking the marina that is attached to the RV park.

We had crab cakes with poached eggs on an English muffin, very tasty!

After breakfast we each headed off to see the town and visited Fort Worden State park.

It is on the sight of an old military base built for defense during WW2.

The base is where An Officer and a Gentleman with Richard Gere was filmed.

We came back and had lunch at the trailer.  Frank left about 1pm after phoning to make sure the part was in. He didn’t get back until 6, $700 poorer. Some sort of exhaust emission valve for his diesel truck.

Hopefully it does the job!

Tomorrow we head off to Cannon Beach, Oregon.

May 11 Port Townsend

After a good nights sleep we  awoke to a grey morning.
Frank and Sue have been having trouble with their truck losing power intermittently so Frank decided to take it back a dealership in Port Angeles.
We explored around Port Townsend for awhile and had lunch with Rick and Susan downtown.
Frank got back around 4pm . He needs a part that will arrive tomorrow from Seattle so he will have to drive back to have it installed.

We all decided to stay here another day so we can continue on together to Cannon Beach , Oregon.

May10 Nanaimo to Port Townsend

We left Nanaimo at 6:30 am to catch the 10:30 ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles.
Met Rick and Susan Diggles and Frank and Sue Higgins at the terminal for our trip to Washington and  Oregon.
Stopped in Port Angeles for groceries then drove another 50 miles to Port Townsend where we will stay 2 nights at the Point Hudson Marina and RV Park..
Nice spot right on  the ocean facing Whidbey Island.
As we arrived a giant floating platform was towed by, it was a U.S. missle defense radar platform  ,it  looked like a drilling rig.
We got set up by 3pm, had a few appies and drinks in the warm sun then enjoyed a nice dinner together at the picnic table.
As the sun went down it got cooler so we retired to our trailers for the evening.

Vermont to Montreal April 15, 2011

We decided to stay another day in Burlington, Vermont. Our flight doesn't leave until 2pm on Saturday and it's only 2 hours from here to the airport, so we have extra time.

We drove around, exploring a bit and looking for another Brooks Bros. for Stephen.  Found one , I guess the prices are better than on-line but the selection is limited.

Went to downtown Burlington. Like so many other east coast cities, the buildings are very old,  huge churches, big traditional style mansions with white columns in front. Mostly red brick construction.

They have a nice shopping area in the middle of town, 3 blocks closed to traffic with lots of shops and restaurants. We ate lunch at The Farmhouse Tap and Grill. They pride themselves on supporting local farms ,so most of the meat and cheese and veggies are from nearby sources. Great selection of Vermont beers, I tried a couple.Small ones!!

After lunch we were off on another quest to find treats to bring home for Mickey and the cats. Not many doggie boutiques in Burlington

This is a huge university town, home to The University of Vermont, Trinity College, and Champlain College.

There are young people everywhere. It's the first time we've seen sorority and fraternity houses. Huge old homes with Greek letters on the walls. Reminds me of Animal House with John  Belushi and the Lamda something frat house!

I forgot to mention yesterday that Lake George is where Rachael Ray started her career. She has a home in a nearby town but she didn't come out to see us!

We didn't see much wildlife on this trip. Two deer in eastern Quebec, four wild turkeys flew across the road in Maine, saw a couple of squirrels here and there and some turtles in a pond and possibly a moose, it may have been a stump. Those were the live ones. There were two dead beavers, several dead porcupines, a couple of dead skunks in the middle of the road that we could smell for miles and a few unidentifiable critters.

Tonight we ordered pizza from Juniors, next door, not bad but not great either. Now we have to finish off whats left of our wine and rum before we cross the border. It's a hard life!

Tomorrow  on to Montreal Airport.

Vermont to NY to Vermont

Awoke to a sunny day in White River Junction.

We headed west through Woodstock [not that Woodstock]. There are 3 covered bridges there, the oldest from 1836, one 1877, the other rebuilt in 1969.

We continued on through the mountains, past Killington Ski Resort, very big in Vermont, to Lake George , New York. Lake George is a huge summer tourist destination, tons of boat rentals, motels and amusement parks, most closed this time of year. there is still ice on parts of the lake.It is in Adirondack Park which is huge. Once outside of the resort area it was all hardwood forests and no traffic on narrow 2 lane roads.

We had planned on taking a small ferry from Ticonderoga, back across Lake Champlaine, which is just north of Lake George and runs all the way to the Canada border.

Alas, it was also closed for the season so we had to drive further north to what is shown on the map as a bridge. The bridge has been torn down and is being rebuilt but luckily they have started a free small ferry service until the bridge is finished.

After a 15 minute ferry ride we were once again in Vermont and headed north to Burlington. Found a motel around 4pm.

We are tired of restaurant food so bought a cooked chicken and some potatoe salad at a grocery store and took it back to the room for dinner.

Maine to Vermont April13, 2011

We left Brunswick in light rain, stopped in Freeport, 5 minutes down the road, to search for some requests from Stephen at Brooks Brothers and J.Crew.
 Our duty done we continued south and west. By now the rain was very heavy, 1 inch forecast. It was really poor visibility so I was glad when the GPS took me off the freeway and onto some secondary highways for our journey west through New Hampshire and into Vermont.

We drove through a lot of hardwood forests and, without any leaves on the trees, it looked very Blair Witchy!
Strange that most of Stephen King's books are set in New England, as well as all sorts of other witch and haunting stories. Hope the car doesn't break down!

Reached our destination of White River Junction. Finally found our lobstah dinner at a place near the motel.

Huge seafood platter for 2, $42.  2 lobstah tails, 4 crab legs, a dozen clams, some barbecued shrimp, all after the salad bar and scallop and corn chowdah!

We rolled back to the room to flop and watch Survivor.

Tomorrow we hope to see some covered bridges on our route west through New York's Adirondacks,

Maine, April 12, 2011

We decided to spend a second night in Brunswick. After breakfast at the motel we dropped off some laundry at local place then drove to Portland.

We followed the coast highway north back towards Freeport. Lots of huge beautiful New England style houses.

We had a bit of a quest. Karen wanted to dip her feet in the Atlantic but it became a real challenge. There is very little public access to the water , at least in this area. There are docks and wharfs but they are all far above the shoreline. 

After lots of driving down many twisty little roads we finally found a small beach access. It was down a short road with a " Private" sign on it but we went anyway and Karen achieved her goal.

My goal was to have my picture taken with the giant boot at LL Bean. I must be a more shallow person!

Freeport is LL Bean central, they have 4 seperate stores for each of their departments and their headquarters here. I think they must be the largest employer around.

Our other goal was a lobster dinner but the nearest restaurant serving fresh lobster was 15 miles away . We were tired of driving all day so we settled for a pub diinner with " chowdah" , as it's pronounced heah.

Tomorrow we head a little furthur south before turning west into New Hampshire and Vermont

2 geese for Brian and Joan

•  

Quebec to Maine April 11, 2011

Marielle

We said" Aurevoir" to Marielle at 9:30 am and began our drive to Maine. The day was overcast but dry.

It was what we consider a long drive, about 5 hours.

The border crossing into Maine is the smallest I've ever seen. We were the only car there. A few questions and we were on our way. Should have stopped for lunch at the first place we saw because we didn't see another until about 2pm. Passed many places closed for the season or just gone out of business. Finally found a place open in Bingham. Food wasn't great but we needed to eat.



Binghams greasy spoon



I didn't realize how sparsely populated this area of Maine was.

We reached civilization and headed south on I-95 towards Freeport, just north of Portland.

Lots of high end shops, including the LL Bean flagship store, they have about a block of buildings for themselves alone.

We found a Comfort Inn in Brunswick, just north of Freeport, to spend the night.


Tomorrow we will do a little shopping and go looking for some Maine lobsters to eat!

The route so far

Quebec City April 10, 2011

# 5 , Our room

We had a good nights sleep in the Hotel Maison du Fort. Marielle had coffee, tea , juice and pastries for us as well as a newspaper in English!
The hotel was built as a private residence in1855. She has owned for 20 years. Some of the interior walls still feature the original stone.



Funiculaire



After breakfast we walked to the center of Old Quebec, only a couple of short blocks. We took the Funiculaire, a tram that travels up and down the hill, to the lower city, which is even older than the upper. Strolled the streets , lots of boutiques.

Returned to the upper town and had lunch at a streetside cafe, then took a tour in a small bus to see the rest of the city. we saw the Plains of Abraham and the Citadel, where the French fought the British.



A quaint boutique!





Karen at 1640



 In the afternoon the streets were packed with people, I've never seen so many.They were 4 abreast in endless lines on every street. It is the first warm ,sunny weekend after the winter and the snow has just about all melted so everyone is enjoying the weather, it as about 15 C. For every ten people there was at least 1 dog
For dinner we got Marielle to phone in a pizza order for us from La petite Italie. I walked there and picked it up to bring back to eat in the room.
The pizza was small so I also picked up some sushi made by a white French Canadian, wasn't too bad.
Karen's knee was sore so she wanted to rest it .
Tomorrow we will make our way to Maine



Hotel Frontenac in the upper Old City



Quebec City April 9, 2011

I picked up the rental car this morning and managed to get back to the hotel, street construction everywhere.
We made our way out of Montreal, heading towards Trois-Rivieres and Quebec.

Followed the GPS , Gladys, all the way. Only mishap occurred in the middle of the Quebec. Gladys said keep left at an intersection so I obeyed . I looked over and saw a car trying to turn into my lane, I was in the oncoming lane! No lines on the road. I managed to reverse and get in the correct lane . Luckily the guy just smiled and didn't give me the finger!

Arrived at our little hotel, Le Maison du Fort, about 3:30. Very cute , 10 rooms, we are the only ones here other than Marielle, the owner.
We got settled, had a glass of wine then went for a walk to find a place for dinner . We ate at Le Lobby, nice little spot. Dinner for two of starter,soup, choice of entre, we chose the filet, desert, coffee and a bottle of wine for $60! Tres bon value.

After dinner we did a little stroll them came back to the hotel only to find I had left my backpack with Karen's insulin kit in the cafe. Raced back and found it still on the floor. Good for the adrenalin!

We met the two resident chats, Piano and something else.

Nice to pet an animal every so often.

Friday April 8

Had a wakeup call for 6am, far too early after a late night of dinner and free wine.

We did our duty at the convention until 11 am, then we were free. We had signed up for a 3 hour bus tour of the city. It wasn’t bad but not as much fun as the carriage tour. We did see a lot more of the city and learned a few things. Saw the Olympic stadium and things left over from Expo 67 like Habitat for Humanity also St. Josephs Catherdral. Drove to the top of Mount Royal for a great view of the city.

We got back to the hotel about 5pm , had  a couple of drinks with Stan and Sharron from Nanaimo, then went for dinner with them.

Tomorrow morning I pick up the rental car and we try to find our way out of the city and make our way to Quebec City.

Thursday April 7, 2011

Today was day 1 of the convention. we were served a nice breakfast then spent the day in the meeting room, quite boring.
At 7 pm we have the dinner and gala.
Tomorrow is only a half day of convention then we are going on a bus tour of the city, on to Quebec City on Saturday.
The weather is sunny, temp about 6 C.

Tuesday April 5, 2011

We arrived at Montreal Airport at about 6:30 pm. Happy to see our luggage come down the chute after being sent on from Nanaimo.

Took a taxi to the Hyatt for a flat rate of $38 then got checked in. Not impressed with the hotel, generally shabby but it is undergoing a remodel. The room is fine though.

Wireless internet costs $12 a day in the room but there is free wi-fi in the food court of the attached shopping center so I will try it out.

Stayed up until midnight last night, late for us but Montreal is 3 hours ahead of Nanaimo so it was only 9 for us.

Wednesday April 6, 2011

After coffee and croissant in the food court we took a cab to Old Montreal. The day was clear but cool.

We started at the Basilica of Notre-Dame, built in 1839. We took a short tour and were very impressed with beauty of the church. It has very a high gothic arched ceiling and lots of stained glass windows.

After the tour we walked along Rue St. James and had a nice lunch at a little crepe café. We then continued up the street to the Place de Jacques Cartier where we took an hour long horse drawn carriage tour of the Old City. We were glad for the blankets provided because the wind was cold, we saw a few snow flakes but the sky was mostly clear. The driver was good, providing interesting descriptions of the old buildings. Lots of history here.

Karen fed some carrots to Mimi, the horse.

We took another taxi back to the hotel to rest our feet and get ready for the rest of our group arriving.

Tomorrow is the Telus Ambassadors convention , the reason we are here. It will be a boring day sitting in a meeting room but there is a dinner and awards Gala in the evening.