Dean & Ginny's excellent adventures... Main Adventure Page
Trek to retrieve our new RV and back -- 11/05
Part
2-The West Coast:
We thought we'd find a military flight to Washington, but we jumped on a sure flight to Travis AFB near Sacramento, CA. No flights from there to Washington either, so we rented a car and drove up the coast.
<< Mt. Shasta looms over I-5 as we drove north. Northern California looks much like Oregon with its conifers and cool weather.
On
Nov. 8th, we stopped at Judy and Gary Baker's house for the night about
50 miles east of I-5 in Oregon. Judy is Dean's sister. A
short visit because we were on a mission to get to BC on the 10th when
the van would be ready for us.
Mt.
St. Helens in southern Washington >>
is slowly erupting again with the lava
pushing the rocky dome from below, but we were unaware of this as we
drove by.
We stopped for the night at Whidbey Island Naval Base not too far from the Canadian/US border. We arrived and left in the dark, but it looks like a great place, so we plan to go back on another trip.
We crossed the border and were surprised that the houses, apartments , and stores really do look different than the ones just south in Washington. Again, we'll want to return for more time here.
We
arrived at GTRV, Traveler's Best Friend, at 7:30am thinking that no
one would be there, but a full crew was already working on our
van. A note taped to the window stated:
"Customer flying in
on Thursday for pick-up!!!"
Roy, the owner, was cordial and gently explained that our van would be ready around 2pm and suggested a place where we might enjoy a nice breakfast at a fishing village, "...just up the road a little ways. Eh?"
The wind was more than brisk making it a little too chilly for our Florida-thinned
blood even with all our layers on, especially after those three hot days in
Hawaii.
We did have a lovely brunch and as the day warmed up a little, we walked around this port. There are many places called Fisherman's Wharf, but this one really lives up to its name. There must have been more than a hundred working boats docked here. Some boats were even set up to sell their catch directly to the public, but there was also a cannery close by.
Because it was so windy, we mostly sat in the car and read. We headed back to GTRV at 2pm.
Well, they were still not ready. For sure it would be available at 4pm. We sat in their parking lot and read some more. We tried not to be impatient, but we were anxious to get going.
At 4 it was almost ready and Roy gave Dean a tour of the van while four workers put in the final pieces in place.
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We became a two-vehicle caravan back to California because we had to return the rental car--there was a huge drop-off fee. We drove into the night and then a full day to get back before the rental office closed on Friday.
Once that was accomplished, we were ready for a more relaxed pace across the country. We continued south...
Finally, after 5pm the van gets its final bath under a colorful Canadian sunset and we were on our way south.
