Day 13

Before we start today, We need to say that you all need to comment, so that we know this blog is worth doing. We're killing ourselves trying to find internet access, so please post something so we know this blog is worth keeping up.

Today we got up, determined to see if our ticket 'reservations' for the Alcatraz tour were the real mccoy or just bogus. We showered and loaded the truck, and tried to set off back to Fisherman's Wharf. However, the GPS was having a lot of trouble acquiring a satellite signal. So, we did it the old fashioned way, and followed the signs (take that GPS!). We paid our toll to cross the Golden Gate Bridge, got lost in the marina district, and finally found some parking near the wharf.

We set off to find the man in front of Joe's Crab Shack. He called someone, handed us off to somebody else that we had to follow for a block, and that someone handed us off to yet another person hanging out outside a souvenir shop. We did get our tickets for both the harbour cruise and the Alcatraz tour. Apparently, the Alcatraz tour is always booked up full about 2 weeks in advance. These 'booking agents' somehow get assigned a pool of same-day tickets from the exclusive Alcatraz tour company they can sell, along with some other tour they piggyback onto the Alcatraz tour. This could be a bus tour or harbour tour. To be honest, it sounds like the booking agents themselves book the tickets themselves just so they can scalp them off at a higher price. And you can't just buy the Alcatraz tickets; you need to get a package, or no Alcatraz for you! What a scam. But hey we did get to go to Alcatraz and the boat cruise was kind of fun too.

Anyways, we left the seedy guy (who was at least funny and amusing), and headed down to Pier 33 to seeif our Alcatraz tickets were legitimate. They checked out, so we headed back to Pier 41 for some lunch: a pretzel, a hot dog and some nachos. Delicious! You've got to love "carnival food". We checked the time, and decided to do the 1 hour harbour cruise of the San Fransisco bay. Along the way we found a guy completely dressed and painted silver who was like a robot. We gave him some money and he came to life and posed for a picture with Brett. Later was saw some gold versions too. It's interesting how some people make money.

We boarded the ship, and we all received little audio headsets to listen to an audio guide point out the sights and stuff. Pretty neat! Rhonda was tempted to listen in a different language to see what she learned, but curiosity got the better of her, and she didn't want Brett to know everything and she would still know nothing, so there went that idea. We got out as far as the Golden Gate bridge, turned around, and did a close-up of Alcatraz Island. Took lots of pictures and gained some funny tourist comments ("It's cold. I'm from Chicago, and I know cold and this is cold!"). We were back at the harbour after the 1 hour cruise, and we set off to Pier 33 to board for the Alcatraz tour.

Rhonda picked us up a frozen lemonade cup, which was pretty sweet but refreshing. It was by far the nicest day we had seen for a long time. Mark Twain once wrote that the coldest winter he'd ever endured was a summer in San Fransisco. I'd have to agree. The breeze off of the bay is quite chilly, and San Fransisco is surrounded by water on 3 sides, which makes for a chilly city.

We soon arrived on Alcatraz Island. It's quite run-down (one of the reasons they shut the prison down in the 60's), and it's a fair hike to the top where the actual cell block is. We passed old apartments where the guards could house their families, a machine gun tower, the warden's house, and a reconstruction of the gardens the well-behaved prisoners were allowed to keep. Brett called his mom from 'prison' for the second time on the trip. Amazing that they have cell phone reception on the island!

We found ourselves in the cell block at the top of the island, where we got an audio tour of the building. It featured check-in for new prisoners, you could stand inside various cells, we were told of various break-out attempts and riots in the prison, and we even got to see the cells of probably the most successful breakout attempt; you know, the one where they dug out the vent in the back of their cells, placed plaster replicas of their heads on their beds for night count, then climbed the utility corridor behind the cells, out the top, and slipped into the bay on home-made rafts. The cells showcased their tools, the plaster replicas on the beds and the false wall they had made.

All in all, it was a very depressing, but cool tour. We headed back on the 5:00 boat and made our way back to the truck. On our way we saw a tour group on Segways, Rhonda quickly wondered why she had been doing so much walking. Our plan was to head out of the city, and start the drive towards Las Vegas. It would take us through Bakersfield, CA, which is not very far from Los Angeles. We got to the truck at about 5:45, but we didn't make it out of the city until about 7:00, and we didn't make it out of the heavy traffic until about 7:45. We pulled into a Motel 6 about halfway in between San Fransisco and Bakersfield at about 9:30 PM. Rhonda was very happy to realize a bed was close by. She started to get worried when we passed by the two other "bigger" towns and saw that the sign read next gas 1 million miles away (actually it was only about 42, but it felt much longer). We ate our first McDonald's meal tonight, and it is no different here. Looked in the mirror and realize that we were sunburned (actually probably a combination of wind and sun burned).

All in all, a very tiring but good day. About 350 km's put on the truck today. And everybody's still in the truck.

Day 12

We got up this morning to a dew-soaked tent. At least we were dry, and our furry friend from last night's antics had gone to bed. We wiped down the tent as best as we could, packed the shell and poles, and put the soaking wet fly in the top cargo container to let it dry out some while we drove. We made ourselves a quick coffee and tea, packed up and hit the showers. Although yesterday's showers were the pits with no hot water, we've had pretty horrible luck with showers while camping down the coast. Today was the turning point for that, though. Hot showers, no waiting, and no need to feed it coins, either! They were free showers. It's about time.

We hopped back onto the US 101 to get down to San Fransisco. It took us a little inland, through San Rafael and Sausalito. Brett panicked a bit just before we were heading onto the Golden Gate bridge. It's a toll bridge, and the fee to cross is $6 US. Brett didn't have exact change, so we made an emergency exit up to the Marin Headlands. After driving around and around the Headlands, we finnaly found their 'posted' visitor centre, nesled deep in the hills. We asked about camping, and they said they had a few cancellations, so we could camp for one night in one spot, and another night in another spot. "It's a half-mile hike into the sites, so you can park here or here." "Uhhh... what about some camp spots where you camp where you park?" "Well, you asked about camping, so that's what we have around here." Not gonna happen. We have way too much stuff to cart around. So there went the camping idea.

After consulting the driving atlas, we decided to head back up the US 1 highway, which ran back along the coast. We soon ended up in Point Reyes National Park, where we saw some campground signs on our map. After closely consulting the large posted maps in their visitor's centre, we realized that they were all hike-in sites, as well. Our last ditch effort was to camp at China Camp, a natural area just outside of San Rafael, and right on the San Fransisco Bay.

We wound our way out of the Point Reyes area, through San Rafael, and down to the China Camp area. Once again, we were foiled by the walk-in camps. That was it, we're gonna hotel it here. Brett entered Motel 6 into the GPS, and we soon found ourselves back in San Rafael at their Motel 6 location. We checked in, laughed at the bedspread, tried and tried to connect to their wi-fi network, and finally gave up. We decided to head into San Fransisco, with a toll ready and see what Fisherman's Wharf was all about.

The GPS got us into the area just fine, but finding parking was a litlle tricky. We happened upon a private parking lot where a lady was kind enough to give us her $20 all-day pass. We paid her back $10, which was how much it would have cost us to park there just for the evening anyways.

Our fist stop was the original Del Monte Cannery, which is now converted into a series of shops and small pubs. Right outside, we encountered a booth advertising tour tickets. We asked about Alcatraz tour tickets, and she immediately took an interest in Rhonda. Rhonda apparently qualified for free tickets and parking for the tour if she just attended a short seminar on time shares... "and you can go too, if you want, I guess" she says to Brett. Not interested. We just want the Alcatraz tickets. Well, she can only sell us a package deal that includes our choice of bus or boat tour. We go with the boat tour and the Alcatraz tour. She calls someone, and fills out a very 'official' looking piece of looseleaf. "You can pick up your tickets from the guy out in front of Joe's Crab Shack tomorrow. That'll be $150 for tomorrow, less a $20 deposit right now." Hmmm. We paid the $20 and proceeded to spend the rest of the night wondering if we had just been swindled. We didn't pay too much attention to the sights, with this concern in our minds. We soon departed after a walk up and down the docks, and retired to our hotel room.

With all the running around we did, we put on about 250 km's. And everybody's kickin' it back in the hotel room with some pizza for dinner.

Day 11

Here's a fun-filled day. Our camp had no hot water for our morning showers, but we still had to pay. To top it all off, Rhonda's neighbor in the shower was just like the mom on Jon and Kate Plus 8. She yelled and was basically pretty mean to the 2 kids she had in the tiny shower room with her (which wasn't a good idea to begin with). All around, it wasn't a great way to begin the day.

Today was laundry day for the two of us. Brett had run out of shorts to wear, and Rhonda's favorite shorts were dirty, too. So, the GPS took us to the nearest laundromat, down the shore in Arena Point, or so it said. When we arrived at the GPS 'destination', it turned out to be a deli, and they had no idea about there ever being a laundromat at that location. They pointed us further down the shoreline to Anchor Point, where they knew there was a laundromat. To top it all off, the GPS had no idea where the new laundromat, or even Anchor Point was.

We arrived in Anchor Point, quickly located the laundromat using the Mark 1 eyeball, and threw our laundry in. We even got to use the new laundry do-it-all sheets Rhonda found in Washington! As soon as we had started our loads, everybody else showed up to do their laundry. Once again, we are the jerks who get the last available ones! Haha!

As our laundry was washing, we headed over to a mexican restaurant across the road for some lunch. While Rhonda looked over the menu, Brett went to use the 'washroom'. The whole building was nice and clean, but the bathrooms were located around the side of the building. They were not even labelled as washrooms. Brett finally figure out what one was the washroom. He enetered a darkened room, and tried furiously to find the light switch. It was nowhere to be found. As his eyes adjusted to the blackened conditions, he noticed that the flourescent light fixture was flickering very, very dimly. He sucked it up and did his business, more by feel than anything else. He finished and went to wash his hands with the unavailable soap, paper towels, and non-functioning hand dryer. Fantastic. If you remember the 'worst toilet in Scotland' from the movie Trainspotting, Brett thinks he's found the worst toilet in California.

We didn't find WiFi, but we found a really cool grocery store, and bought some cool snack packs with cheese and meat. And we got supplies for a gourmet supper. We headed off back down the road again. At the next town we found a coffee shop with WiFi and updated the blog.

We went to Botega Bay and asked if they had any sites left. They had many and sent us off to choose 3 that we liked. This was a very unusual situation for us, as we are used to being the jerks who take the last spot. We drove around and chose 4 spots (we are overachievers after all) and paid for our site and got ready to set up. Little did we know that we certainly were in for more than we paid for! Then we headed into Botega Bay and tried to get the phone working. But alas, the phone still sucks. We got firewood and stocked up on some necessary supplies.

We went back to the campsite and set up. Once that was accomplished it was time for dinner:
Pan seared smoked pork chops
California mix salad with cherry tomatoes, cheddar cheese, and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing
Grilled french bread slices with a balsamic vinegar dip
$34.95 per plate
How's that for camp cooking?!

After dinner, we brewed up some hot chocolate and took a walk down to the beach. It turned out to be more like a death march, than a leisurely stroll. The beach was much further away than either of us anticipated. We soldiered on and, after about a half hour walk, we were at the beach. At the sandy, windswept beach, we sat down and relaxed for a while, just observing everything around us. Some of the things we saw included a father with his two daughters. Dad was digging an enormous hole in the sand. Why? We're still not sure. But we got pictures!

Today ended up being a real wildlife day for us. We saw our first California Condor, some deer, a cute little bunny, sandpipers on the beach, and a whole lot of earwigs in our camp food locker. We saved the best for last.

We were sitting by the campfire having an intellectual conversation (ok that part might be fiction, but I swear the rest really happened!). Rhonda heard a noise in the bushes by the tent. She casually looked over and saw a "cat". Well, it took about half a second to realize that this cat had very distinct markings. She jumped out of her chair, alerted Brett, "Skunk!!!!". Then she ran to the truck. Well everyone knows that Brett has "rock and roll ears" and he said, "What?". Rhonda is fairly generous and caring, but in situations like this one, she only gives one warning. Brett looked over at what Rhonda was looking at, and then he jumped out of his chair. By this time Rhonda was in the truck (thank goodness it was unlocked!!!). Brett jumped in too. Oh crap, the keys are on the picnic table by the skunk. Spare set! Yay. We start the truck and pull out. Then we realize we have no idea what to do. So we pull in with the headlight illuminating the site and watch the skunk. The people across from the site are watching with great interest (and probably amusement), all the goings on. They soon realize what the commmotion is all about. Dad comes over and says that there are some very friendly skunks and foxes in the site. They are very used to people, and in fact he had to chase away both last night. Funny, our check-in ranger didn't warn us about any skunks or foxes. Our new 'friend' made several appearances over the course of the evening, even startling Brett on a midnight stroll to the bathroom. However, we all got along just fine, and nobody smells any worse, except for maybe our new camp buddy. Rhonda is still laughing at the event at this moment, especially about being on skunk patrol all evening ("Hey Brett, is that you moving? Oh Crap! Skunk!") and the fact that we now know who is going to survive any attack, Rhonda who has better hearing of course!

We drove about 100 kms today, but it was a twisty road that took a long time. Everyone is still in the truck, and our little buddy has been left behind for the next campers.

Day 10

We got up in the redwood forest campground, and grabbed some showers. This took a little skill, as each of the showers was one whole room, with no separate area for the actual shower. You could spray down the toilet, the sink, the mirror, even your towel and clothes if you weren't careful. Brett managed it fairly well, while Rhonda unfortunately had to wait for Princess, who spent 15 minutes in there and hadn't even got to the showering part.

We threw in just a little gas. It was $3.07 a gallon. We were paying $2.47 a gallon up in Florence. We were hoping for more reasonable prices, but whatever. We hit the road again, off to the Avenue of the Giants. It's a scenic road that goes parallel to the US 101 highway, but it takes you through several areas of old-growth redwood forest. Just before we got there, we made a detour into Target to get some supplies. They were woefully inadequate in that department, unfortunately. However, Brett got the 2010 GPS map update there, so he was happier than usual, and the increase of the GPS abilities is really starting to worry Rhonda about her status and necessity on this trip. lol.

Back on the road, we detoured onto the Avenue of the Giants. Our first stop was a small house made out of the trunk of a redwood tree. Inside, it was about 20' across. We then drove through another tree, drove on top of a fallen tree log, and even stopped for the farmer's market in Myer's Flats, CA. It was a bustling hub of business among the THREE stands they had set up for the entire market. Pathetic.

Fuel was becoming an issue by then, so we pulled into Leggett, CA for a fill-up. No difference in price there. We sucked it up and filled the tank, then we took off to Fort Bragg. On the map, the road's fairly straight, but it's a completely different experience driving it. Lots of steep curves, and you couldn't get past about 40 mph before you had to slow down to 15 mph for a sharp turn. It was like that for 20 miles. Pretty cool, but pretty tiring.

We towards Mendocino and started thinking about campsites. The first campsite that we tried was full so we managed to find a back way to the highway. At the end of our detour, we discovered another campsite. Alas, it was full too. But once again, we decided to ask if there were any spots. Yet again, another camper cancelled and there was one spot left. And we took it being the jerks that we are (especially since there was another car lined up behind us who got rejected). We dumped off our stuff and looked at the cell phone. No signal. We really wanted to call home so we jumped in the truck and headed to Mendocino. Well we got service, but apparently the phone is unable to call internationally yet. Stupid phone that Rhonda came very close to chucking in the ocean. Brett called the company, but apparently you cannot use the cell to call for trouble shooting. Stupid phone.

We decided to have supper at this guidebook reccommended place. Brett enjoyed his fish and chips and Rhonda had a good steak sandwich. After supper we found a coffee shop with WiFi and had some tea and updated the blog. This coffee shop was full of interesting people and lots of dogs (all pitbulls).

We went back to the campsite and started to set up the tent. Rhonda was blowing up the air mattresses and she heard Brett ask, "Do you know what poison oak looks like?". After Rhonda's reply no, Brett proclaimed that he now did. So Rhonda sent him to the washroom with the cool soap strips, put on some Benadryl and a bandaid. We finished setting up the tent and made a fire.

We hung out by the fire (really close to it actually because it was cool and damp). We heard some crackling in the bushes and were somewhat scared (in the morning we felt really stupid because we saw some really scary bunnies and a squirrel).

200 km. And everybody's still in the truck.

Day 9: Super Monkey BALLS!!

We woke up at 7:30 this morning to a guy reving his Harley. After realizing that he had woke everyone up, he proceeded to yell, "Good Morning". What a start. We kind of went back to sleep for a little while. We then packed up and had bagels for breakfast. Proceeding to the showers, we realized that we didn't have any quarters. Back in the truck and back to the store for quarters. After showering, we got in the truck and started to drive. We had decided to head into the Redwoods for another night. We planned to go to Flint Rock Campground. It looked really isolated on the map and trailers and RVs were not allowed. Yay. Well, it seemed like a great idea at the time. It turned out to be a walk in only, up a steep cliff in fact. Not for us! So we kept going. We found this field with portapotties, really really not for us. It was looking like we were going to go back to Jedediah Smith. Then on a spur of the moment decision, we decided to head south on the 101 again.

We stopped at a Ranger Station to get info. There was a guy there who was bargining for a map. He declared that he had 25 cents and a mint. The clerk replied that the mint looked kind of tasty, but no thanks. He then offered to lick it first. "It makes it sweeter!". He was one of the more interesting characters on our trip so far.... but wait, it gets better...

We got to Prairie Creek Campground,deep in the California Redwoods. It had a campground full sign. Oh well, let's just ask in case. Apparently someone had just cancelled. Yay for us. Once again, the last campsite is ours. Once again, we are those jerks. And it still feels good. It was a great site, kind of isloated, and really large. We set up our tent and back on the road we went.

We headed to The Trees of Mystery, mainly because we were curious about what was so mysterious about these trees. And Rhonda wanted to find out if giant trees meant giant squirrels. They had a gondola there and since Rhonda missed out on the Jasper one, Brett was deteremined to fix this. We hiked up and looked at all of the sights. We encountered a family of 4 with 2 kids. One of these kids was really hyper, and his dad explained that he had been cooped up in the car for much too long. As we were walking by this kid, he proclaimed that he was "Super Monkey Balls". He was climbing trees and this was his superhero name. Brett and Rhonda looked at each other to make sure that each had heard the same thing, and we both started to laugh. We wished that we actually knew this kid and could remind him of this moment/ nickname in 15 years!

At the lineup to the gondola, Brett met a kindered spirit, who liked his Slayer hoodie. According to Brett, Rhonda almost left him behind. According to Rhonda, Brett almost made her go up the gondola alone. But they both got on and it was pretty cool.

At the top, we had a quick look around, then got back inline to go downn the mountain. Oh, look, it's Super Monkey Balls and his family getting off the gondola! And he's as obnoxious as ever, too. Good thing we're going down.

Brett was determined to find a drive-thru redwood tree. We found one just down the road from the Trees of Mystery. As we were paying our $4.00 toll to drive through the tree, the sweet old lady working the toll booth remarked about how both of us had landed such good catches in each other. She asked if it was just the two of us and when we responded yes, she said, "Why, you don't need anyone else when you've found perfection!" We seem to please everybody, wherever we go. And we felt really great after meeting this lady!!

After getting some pics of the Nissan inside of a tree, we hit the road and grabbed some groceries. We had decided that it would be a spaghetti dinner night, but the general store had no hamburger. We managed to cobble up a Polish sausage dinner instead, complete with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes.

That night in the campground was the coldest we've seen. We both changed into hoodies and jeans, and made sure we had plenty of extra blankets for a cool, cool night in the redwoods.

Only 250 km's put on the truck today. And we're all still in the truck.

Day 8

The plan today was to head down to Brookings, OR, right on the Oregon-California state line. Brefore we left, we needed to swap the oil in the truck and we needed to give Mo's Restaurant one last goodbye. Brett also managed to coupon shop for cigarettes (imagine that coupons for everything). By chance, we got a $10 off coupon for Oil Can Henry's, an oil change chain here in the US. After that was done, we headed down to Oldtown in Florence OR to Mo's restaurant for lunch (more chowder in a bread bowl). By chance, they had a farmer's market set up down the street. We toured that, specifically looking for some fresh baked goods, but none were to be had. Oh, they had lots of custom glasswork and stuff, but they were short on fresh produce and baking. And lots of tie dye. We didn't know that tie dye still existed, but we have found a place where it is very very popular!!

After lunch we went back on the highway and started driving. We looked at the map and realized that the Redwoods National Park was much closer than we thought. So with a change of plans (and a change of GPS directions), we were California bound. As we got to the state line, we hit an Agricultural Inspection Site. We maintained our honesty and proclaimed our blueberries, but once again, they were only interested in citrus fruit (and Jolly Ranchers still don't count). We passed the inspection with flying colors. Aparently we are not the scary characters that we thought we were. I guess we will have to work on becoming more unsavory characters for the next Inspection Site.

So again down the highway we went, looking for really big trees. We passed the main campsite Jedediah Smith, because of the scary line up (and the GPS didn't tell us to stop). Brett boldly followed the GPS directions and soldiered on to Gaspe or something, a little town about 20 miles past the state park. The map (yes the old fashioned map and Rhonda reading it. TAKE THAT GPS!!) told of 2 campgrounds just past that town, so we headed onward down the highway east. We ended up missing the first campground, but pulled into the second (and last) one. After a quick drive through, we decided on looking elsewhere. The highway was just too close to get any peace and quiet. We knew we missed a campground so we doubled back, and soon found ourselves in Panther Flats Campground. We ended up scoring the last site in the campground, and it wasn't too bad a site. This place had showers, at least... until we saw the low water level warnings posted at every tap in the park. At least they just suggested some water conservation, and it wasn't a big emergency yet. And we were going to have our showers!

We still needed dinner, so we doubled back to Gaspe and hit their tiny general store. Sadly, it was picked pretty clean. We couldn't make any big extravagant meal with what they had, so we settled on hot dogs over the campfire. Brett managed to score the LAST hot dog buns in the store, too! One of the store customers struck up a conversation about finding some camping in the area. We told him that we got the last site at Panther Flats. Now we're the jerks! And it was kind of a good feeling.

We drove about 400 kms today. And everyone is still in the truck.

Day 7

Today was all about finding some lesss expensive accomodations, then just relaxing in the Newport-Florence, OR area. We started the day by packing up and getting out of the hotel room, then hitting the road north of Florence to find a campground. We pulled into the first one we could find; it was called Sutton State Park, and it was about 5 minutes north of Florence. We drove around for about 15 minutes until we found a spot, but we soon realized that we didn't have the change needed for the site. The National Park campgrounds work on an honor system. You pull in, pick a spot, then go back and pay cash for your site at a self-serve deposit box. Our site was $10, but all we had were $20's, $50's, and a few $1's. The park caretaker was right there, so she let us set up a bit, then go back into town for change. While we were there, we grabbed some lunch to go at a deli. We resolved to keep a stack of $5's and $10's in the truck for National Park camping site use only.

After lunch, we headed back north to Newport and to the Oregon State Aquarium. It's only 40 miles, but it takes about an hour to get there, with the twisting and tuning Coast Highway. We arrived at about 2 PM, and headed in. At first we were kind of disappointed with what the aquarium had to offer, but then we discovered the Cavern of the Deep. It was a series of glass tunnels with all kinds of fish life swimming around them. It was pretty cool, Rhonda especially liked the sting rays. There were lots of cool jelly fish and a tide pool where we could touch the sea creatures (Brett was kind of scared at first or maybe he was thinking of his mom's be careful warnings..., but managed to overcome his fears and touched most of the creatures). We bought a cool shark pen that lights up in the gift shop.

After the aquarium, we headed further into Newport and found a parking space. We walked down the streets and looked into a few shops. Brett tried his first salt water taffy. Then we went to the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum. That was pretty cool with some shrunken heads, but there was one room that was was surrounded with lit up "stars" that made it feel like you were in space. We then ventured into the Wax Museum. To be honest, it was a mix of a lot of goofiness and a little kitschy coolness; it left us with a 'why are we here?' sort of feeling for us. But Brett did get to hang out with Johnny Depp. Last stop was the Undersea Garden. It's actually a 150 foot boat on the dock with a giant aquarium 10 feet below the ocean surface. The viewing gallery is a glass and steel tank immersed inside the aquarium, so you're inside looking out at the aquarium. A diver drops into the aquarium and shows you a bunch of different sea creatures. He'll bring it up to the glass, point things out and play with it for the audience. Brett liked most of it, but Rhonda felt pity for the poor sea creatures. They were being hauled out of their happy places and put on display and even thrown around so that they would swim. Kind of mean I think (I wouldn't like it if someone did that to me. Would you?) Brett only felt pity for the dungeness crab; it looked like the wolf eel was having a lot of fun with the diver.

After that adventure, we headed into Mo's Seafood Reastaurant. They boast the best clam chowder, and they do not lie. The line-up to get in can vary from a 20 minute to 1 hour wait (we waited for about 20 mins). It is well worth it. Brett had a seafood variety platter with a clam chowder starter (shared with Rhonda), and Rhonda had a cod, shrimp, and salmon linguini alfredo. It was delicious. We were seated at a table with another couple (that is how busy the place is.) First they asked if we were nice. We responded with the fact that we are Canadian so who knows if we are nice. They asked one of the typical responses, must be cold there... but they were pretty nice. We both got some dessert to go for later that night by the campfire. Brett is still on the hunt for the best peanut butter dessert in existence.

We returned to the campsite after grabbing some groceries and firewood (and Rhonda's jacket which she left in the previous night's hotel room. And it was at the front desk waiting. Yay Comfort Inn!) , and had a nice, relaxing evening by the campfire. Well, except for the hand dryer in the bathroom that would not shut off, because about 5 women who were camping that wanted to wash and dry their hair. They ran the hand dryer for about 1 1/2 hours, which killed the hand dryer I might add. Rhonda was pretty grossed out by the amount of hair left behind as well. We imagined them to be female bigfoots with lots and lots of hair.

We have left the campground of a much healthier breakfast (bagels, using the new campstove toaster). We just had showers (we had to go to a seperate place from the campground because we have learned that many state campgrounds have no showers). We are off to get the truck's oil changed and more of Mo's chowder (there is a restaurant here too and Rhonda really wants to experience chowder in a homemade breadbowl). Then out of town and back on the road, heading to California.

All is still well with us, and we are still having a lot of fun. The weather is nice and cool, a refreshing change. We put on about 250 km on the Nissan. And everyone is still in the truck.

Day 6

We decided that today would be the day that we make it out to the coast. We ate a breakfat high in grease and cholesterol, packed, showered, and said our goodbyes to the little RV park in Randle, WA. We set out towards the coast (after a brief interlude with Brett's impending tummy issues. Yay Pepto Bismal!). Not long after we hit the interstate, we were in Portland, Oregon, navigationg our way blindly through the freeway. Our GPS was performing fairly well until a confusing series of on- and off-ramps, and other assorted exits. We parked the car and turned on the voice prompts, which made it much easier to follow the GPS map (but made Rhonda feel even more redundant).

Our final destination for the day was in Newport, OR. However, we wanted to take the more scenic route along the Oregon coast highway. Our GPS was still firmly steering us along the inland interstate, so we made a couple course corrections which were supposed to get us to the coast sooner. However, we had forgotten that it was a Friday, and everybody and their dog were trying to make it out to the coast as well. We encountered some congestion and slow-moving traffic, but we eventually made our way to Lincoln City, right on the coast at around 4 PM.

We parked the Nissan and got out at a public beach where we had a good stretch, walked in the sand, and frolicked a little in the surf. Brett was the first to wade in, and Rhonda followed for some pictures, but a rogue wave soon had us running as it soaked our shorts. Thank goodness for the armoured camera!

After that respite, we were refreshed enough to make it down to Newport, OR, another 25 miles down the coast. It is an absolutely gorgeous drive, with the surf pounding the beaches and rocky outcroppings on one side of the highway, and temperate rainforest climbing up the hills on the other side.

Newport itself is a town of maybe 10 000 people, with a very quaint small seaside town look and feel. We stopped in at their historic waterfront for some dinner at a seafood restaurant right on the pier. We also saw a wax museum, an undersea show, and a Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum. We're thinking of coming back tomorrow to check these places out. The seafood dinner was delicious, but the icing on the cake was a fabulous berry cobbler we shared for dessert.

By this time, it was about 8 PM, and we still had not gotten ourselves any accomodations. We were both starting to get nervous about the possibility of having to sleep in the truck at a WalMart parking lot, so we headed out of town, south along the coast highway to try and find a campground before we lost daylight.

All of the state campgrounds were full as we drove by them, along with most of the RV parks. We eventually wound up in Florence, OR around 9 PM. It was too late to set up the tent, so we decided to find a hotel room for the night and search for camping accomodations on Saturday. We tried the Best Western, but even with my AMA card, they still wanted $200 US for one night. We had passed a Comfort Inn a while back, so we tried our luck there. We ended up staying there for the night, which cost us only $120 US. At least we had wi-fi now so we could update the blog and check our e-mails and stuff. And maybe since we forgot to turn the tv on, it night still be a little like camping. We drove about 500 km today. And everyone is still in the truck.

Day 5

Rhonda and Brett spent the morning at Aunite Nancy and Uncle Doug's house sorting out their newly washed laundry and getting a shower in. You never know when your next shower will be on the road, a fact that Rhonda is trying to deal with. After breakfast and coffee and tea over discussion of dogs and dogsledding, we packed the truck and got ready to leave. We said our goodbyes to Auntie Nancy and Robert, started the new GPS navigator, and set off back on the road. Destination: Mount St. Helen's National Volcanic Monument. Nothing like a volcano and devastation to up the fun content on a roadtrip. However, we needed to make a quick stop at a local Wal-Mart for a disposable cellphone, some highlighters for the map, and a container for all our US change. The only container that really suited our needs was a Wonderbread sandwich container. Insert witty comment here. Hey, Rhonda thinks it's cool. We also wanted to get an expansion card for our GPS with fully updated maps, but they didn't have any. Rhonda is worried that the GPS unit is making her completely useless and without purpose. She suspects that if Brett could find the expansion card that allows the machine to have conversations and compliment him, she'd be very quickly left at the next rest stop.

After driving from the Tri-Cities to Yakimaw, WA, we headed southwest through the beautiful Wenatchee National Forest. It's a rugged highway, treed with evergreens and a small brook that runs parallel to the highway. Before long, we found ourselves in the foothills of the Cascade mountains, just south of Mount Rainier. It's an interesting highway in the fact that instead of sticking to the lowlands, it climbs the sides of these huge hills and gorges, offering spectacular views. Then as you round a corner on the highway, out of nowhere is Mount Hood, a giant snow-capped mountain (little did we know at the time that it's actually a volcano). Brett had a lot of fun dring the twists and turns and Rhonda tried to not read all of the road signs out loud.

We continued along the highway, stopping for directions in Packwood, WA, then continuing on down the road into Randle, WA. After looking at the local RV campgrounds (which were all nothing more than glorified parking lots), we found a small but nice and quiet RV park just east of Randle, which was treed and fully serviced. The owner gave us a deal for the night: $20 for the night and a bundle of firewood. The normal rate would have been $21.35. Cool! Maybe it was because we were Canadian or peerhaps it is because we are just simply charming.

We had dinner at a roadside cafe that featured "The best chicken and jojo's". Curious as to what a jojo was, Rhonda ordered their special: 4 pieces of chicken and 4 jojo's (for only $10), while Brett opted for a chicken fried steak and fries. We soon found out that a jojo is a giant potato wedge, seasoned with plenty of salt and cajun spice. Delicious! Brett finished most of his meal, but poor Rhonda had almost half of her meal left over. We boxed up the remainder, grabbed some groceries (which of course, included a 6-pack of Rolling Rock beer), and headed up to Mount St. Helen's.

We had asked at a local tourist booth how long the drive up to the volcano was. On a map, it's maybe 25 miles as the crow flies. However, the road up to it is a winding, twisting, turning series of switchbacks that go up a ridge, which turns it into a 1 1/2 hour drive up and another 1 1/2 hours back down. It ends at Windy Ridge, a lookout over the blast area of the volcano when it erupted in 1980. We set off out of Randle at around 6: 30 PM.

The first half of the road up takes you through some close forest lanes that twist and turn. You can get up to about 60 mph in some small stretches, but you need to slow right down to 20 mph to turn around the switchbacks. The second half of the road is almost all twists and turns; you don't dare go over 40 mph on this road, or you'll end up like Thelma and Louise. The scenery on this part of the road alternates between old-growth forest and a nuclear bomb site. It's an eerie feeling to see all of the trees laying down in the same direction, away from the volcano that looms in the distance. Eventually, we made it up to the end of the road at Windy Ridge. They don't lie! A cold, stiff breeze greeted us as we exited the Nissan. From the vantage point we had, Mount St. Helen's displayed its open caldera, the active part of the volcano. The caldera of a volcano is normally only seen from the top. In the case of this volcano, half of the mountain was obliterated which allowed easy viewing of the mini-cone caldera of the volcano. The blast left quite a path of destruction. All the land before the open part of the volcano is laid to waste, almost as barren as the moon. We took lots of pictures of the volcano, ourselves and the volcano, and even some of Brett snacking on Rhonda's leftover chicken against a backdrop of sheer destruction.

The trip back down to Randle was pretty tiring for Brett, as he had clutched and shifted all the way up the mountain for an hour and a half. It was no different on the way back down. Some of the bumps got the better of Rhonda, but she held back the tears (and the complaints) like a good trooper. We arrived back in Randle at around 9:30. Another night, another campfire. Trip meter: 400 kms, including the trip to and from Mt. St. Helen's.

Day 4

We arrived at Auntie Nancy, Uncle Doug and Robert's house around 2pm. We had a great sleep the night before and a very well cooked breakfast (very cooked!). We got back on the road at about 11 AM and drove to a little homestead just outside of Pasco, Washington. We left the computer GPS out of the picture for this drive, and relied on good old maps and directions. They seemed to get us to my aunt and uncle's place just fine.

I got to see and hang out with my aunt and cousin all afternoon, something which I haven't been able to do for close to 15 or 20 years, I think. We hooked up with my uncle for dinner at a great Mexican restaurant, then Rhonda, Robert and I did a little shopping... for a new vehicle GPS system! Well, we bought some other things, such as these cool laundry sheets that wash, and fabric soften all in one! Rhonda was particularly happy to find them since she had been talking about them and no one else had heard of them and she was beginning to doubt her sanity. Brett got cool new memory foam flip-flops (2 pairs! They were dirt cheap, compared to home). Brett could also learn a few gentlemanly manners from Robert. He opened Rhonda's door for her, carried the shopping whenever he could, and was extremely polite and very very helpful. Like we said, Brett has some learning to do.

We spent the evening chatting about the trip, about past times, and about the travel blog itself. It's now bedtime. We drove about 300 km today (I'm too tired to go out and check for sure). Another great day on the road, though!

Day 2 and 3

Alex, Michelle, and Greg showed up and settled in for the night. The introductions are over and Brett managed to pass all of the tests. He even managed to impress everyone with his superior fire making skills (when all he really wanted to do was use his new "chainsaw manly" axe. It's a Fiskars axe with a cool black, gray and burnt orange color scheme. He loves it.) We had a fun evening around the campfire, sharing stories and laughs. Brett tried to get some dirt on Rhonda, but alas he was foiled by the fcat that it was confirmed that she is all around wonderful (at least that was the story and we are all sticking to it.

We spent the first night of our trip at the Lamplighter Campground, right in Revelstoke. We had a very unusual request from our campsite neighbour, one that left us pondering what other campsites Revelstoke had to offer. So the next day after breakfast, we headed to Williams Lake Campground, just east of Revelstoke.

Our campsite at Williams Lake was a little less treed and just as packed in, but our neightbours were much more friendly. As well, they had the cheapest campground rates we had ever seen. A site with full hookups (that's water, sewer, and power) was only $24! We set up quickly and decided that we needed a canopy too. The temperature got up into the 30's, and shade was a definite necessity. Setting it up was quite a challenge, but with 5 people, we managed to succeed. After enjoying the shade for a while the decision was made to begin the MG Masters (mini golf Masters). Rhonda was quickly schooled by everyone (well except Greg), and somehow Brett managed to tie for first with Michelle. At least he isn't bragging too much. After the tournament was over, we all headed to the lake for some swimming.

In the evening, we had a blast from the past, listening to 80's music and playing 90's trivia and talking about the "good old days". We were so good at the trivia, the guy from next door thought we were all geniuses. We managed to name all of Alex and Michelle's kids (they now have to have 8) and Bella Button, Del Monty Python, and Ed Wood are three favorites. We also had some great laughs at Greg's tent and his travelling spice rack and quantified isolateral triangles. Alex brought out his hot and spicy beans and we all ate some and cried afterwards.

The 3rd day of our holiday entailed Brett and Rhonda making a dash for the Canada/US border. After cleaning the site and packing the gear like camping ninjas we said good bye to everyone and left. We headed south from Revelstoke to the Arrow Lakes, to cross the lake at the Galena Ferry. Cool! Too bad that Rhonda was too short to see over the sides. A stranger took pity on her and offered to let her stand on his truck hood (she didn't of course). On the way, we got the GPS up and running into some computer problems with the navigation software. First, it would quit unexpectedly. We solved that by losing the GPS extension cord and plugging the GPS sensor right into the computer. Feeling pretty pretty satisified with ourselves, we stopped at a golf course and had a wonderful lunch on a deck overlooking a lake and facing the mountains. It felt like smooth sailing until we got close to the border (around Castlegar). It was then that our GPS started lying to us, urging us to take secondary streets, alleys and assorted back roads to get accross the border. We finally gave up on it in the small town of Fruitvale, only about 20 minutes from the border crossing. After consulting the maps and our travel atlas, we managed to cross at a small, out of the way border station. That was the first and only crank moment so far, and we hope that the GPS is just "city folk" and will be smarter in the cities.

The border guard was really great with us, though. Brett was a nervous wreck, but Rhonda came out of it swimmingly. We got asked for vehicle registration, our occupations, our travel plans and our length of stay. We shot back with, "How far is it to Pasco, Washington?" Brett was a little shocked at the answer he got from the border guard (another 4 hours), seeing as how it took all day to travel a measly 300 km. She suggested a little campground just northwest of Spokane, WA, a further 2 hours down the road. She was extremely friendly, helpful, polite, and (the best part) she didn't subject us to a full vehicle search!! Not that we were carrying anything illicit, but it takes a long time to pack all of our awesome camping gear properly, and it's taken us one full summer to figure out how to do it best. Of course being who we are, when she asked if we were carrying any citrus with us, we were about to claim our Jolly Ranchers, so we think she knew that there was nothing to worry about from us.

So, we find ourselves at this moment sitting watching "nature's TV" (sitting by the fire) at Fort Spokane National Park campsite. It's beautiful, quiet, secluded, and dark! We kind of feel like we are the only 2 people here right now. Earlier, we picked up some necessary supplies (sausages, ice, propane, Sam Adams, and Marlboro's), set up the campsite in record time, and had a dip in the local river/lake after a very hot day (39 degrees Celsius) in the Xterra. Finding the wood for the campfire was a litlle tricky. We had to go to three different places, and we only got firewood at the last place because the store clerk had a litlle in the back of her piuckup that she was willing to sell to me. Brett was quite tempted to buy the giant plastic turkey on display for $70, while Rhonda was impressed by the fish mailbox (and yes, we have pictures of it). In all, it was a great day of our trip. Everyone is still in the truck and we are still feeling pretty serene. The weather is beautiful and so are the views. We travelled 475 km today (the miles thing is still confusing to Rhonda), and are enjoying a relaxing evening by the fire.

Day 1: Revelstoke, BC

So, we made it through our first day of travel. Right now, we're trying to book a site for Alex, who lives here. Wejust got him the last site in the park!

We started off with growling stomachs, so we ducked into Drayton Valley for a McDonald's breakfast, which turned out to be the best food of the day. 'Lunch' was had at the Grizzly Cookhouse in Golden, BC; they advertised 'the best food on the Trans-Canada Highway'. We may get sued for slander if we comment any further, so we'll just leave it at that. The best thing there was Brett's drawing on the tablecloth.

The traffic was flowing pretty quickly and there were no major incidents. Brett was pretty excited about all of the tunnels we got to drive through. He was much less excited about Rhonda's offer to outfit him in all of the "highway clothes". Rhonda particularly enjoyed reading the multitude of signs on the road (however she read most of then silently so Brett wouldn't throw her out of the truck).

Right now, we're just kickin' back with a drink, and relaxing. I'm waiting for the big introduction to Alex Pash!

Things are good, we drove 600 kms today, time went quickly and everyone is still in the truck.

Day -1: Packing and Prep

Nothing too exciting. We're cleaning the truck this afternoon, then we're packing all our stuff tonight. We leave for Revelstoke, BC tomorrow.

Day -2: Friday, July 17th

The mad dash to prepare and pack for the trip starts today. I'm making a trip into Edmonton to drop off some rental gear and all my recording equipment. As well, I need just a couple more things before Rhonda and I leave, such as an axe, some personal hygiene items, and a beach towel.

As well, I'm going to get some US cash and some traveller's cheques for emergency use.