Thursday, August 22rd, Pierres Point, Salmon Arm, BC

Greetings!

Yes, the wifi reaches all the way to the beach.  The upper portion of the Okanagan Valley is like a long skinny (warm-watered) Lake Tahoe surrounded by the Central Valley.  We're headed next to Revelstoke to make it our base for some adventures into three national parks in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies.  Expect to be out of wifi soon, and back again in a week or so.

And just to assure my golfing friends that I'm staying in shape, I thought I'd show the tough putting challenge I face.

  To see the other photos click on Thursday, August 22nd, Pierres Point. 

Wednesday, August 21st, Osoyoos, BC

Greetings!

Canada, between Vancouver and Lake Louise, was a mystery until today.  Who could have guessed that the western half would contain high craggy peaks with Ponderosa pines, alpine meadows, and marmots - while the eastern half has sage-brushed deserts surrounding lakes filled with jet-skis and vacationers? It feels a little like the Western U.S. has been turned around.  Colorado is where California is, and vice versa.  We can't wait to see what northern British Columbia looks like.

To see all of the photos we took in the past two days, click on Wednesday, August 21st 

   

Sunday, August 18th, Bellingham, Washington

Greetings!

Whenever we wonder where we'd live if we didn't live in Sonoma County, northern Washington State alway comes up among the top five.  Hanging out until our passports arrive via UPS, we drove around this weekend on the islands just west of Bellingham.  Checking out the seafront homes on Fidalgo, Whidbey, and Camano Islands, we enjoyed some beautiful scenery.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Sunday, August 18th, Bellingham

August 16th, Portland Fairview RV Park

Greetings!

Breakfast at Wolf Creek Inn was terrific.  Thanks to Steve Diverde for suggesting it.  We even got to see a photo of his old gang from the commune there in 1973.  The Veggie and Western Omlettes were scrumptious.

Two hours ago, headed north on Highway 5 in Oregon and listening to CBC (Canada) on the radio, I asked Pat "Did we bring the passports?"

Moderate panic and consternation followed.

Deciding whether to continue driving north or turn around - was not easy.  Twelve hundred miles of extra driving is not something you want to do if you can avoid it.  Could we get across the border without our passports?  Do they let you across with just a California DMV license?  Could we get ahold of Steve Diverde at our house, and get him to send us our passports to a location two days north of us at the border?

We decided to stop and find a place for the night where we could explore our options.  Clear, powerful wifi, and the possibility of multiple nights were the priority.  We found a big, established RV park outside of Portland.  Once there, we researched UPS Next day air service.  We called (on Google Hangout) Steve, and organized a longer discussion for tomorrow morning.

Now relaxed, with a decent plan, we're heading north tomorrow for Bellingham, Washington, where we'll explore the Puget Sound and wait for the UPS package.

A little bit of chaos can be fun if it gets resolved well.

Gregory

Thursday, August 20th, Ashland, Oregon

Greetings!

Three hundred plus miles north on Highway 5, we’ve stopped in Ashland, Oregon.  With barely enough wifi in the RV Park to maintain a steady connection, we’ve settled in, and are snacking on organic corn tortilla chips, mediterranean hummus dip, and iced tea while we answer emails and play computer games.  The warm mountain sun is bathing the smoke-filled sky (a local fire we drove through on the highway) while the neighbors swim in a small pool near our space. 

We love the views of Lassen and Shasta on the stretch of California we just drove through.  The Cascade Mountain range so powerfully displays the might of the collision of the Pacific and American plates, and the eruption of magma from deep within the Earth’s crust so many millions of years ago.   Let’s  hope we don’t live to see it come to life again. 

Gregory

Thursday, August 15th, Canadian Rockies Airstream Trip

Greetings!

Today, we're leaving on an Airstream drive up into British Columbia, to explore the eastern section of the province.  We'll head north on Highway 5 to Bellingham Washington, which should take us about three days to get there.

Hope is our first destination, beyond Abbotsford, south of the Frazer River.  The Trans-Canadian Highway passes through Chilliwack and Laidlaw, between the Coast and the Cascade Mountain Ranges. (three days)

From Hope, we'll drive to Nicolum Creek Provincial Park and the Sunshine Valley.  The scenic Highway 3 takes us through Skagit Valley Provincial Park, Cascade Recreation Area, and the Manning Provincial Park.  Then we'll head north to Princeton, along the Similkameen River. (five days)

Turning south into the Bromley Rock and Stemwinder Provincial Parks, we follow the southern stretch of the Similkameen River to Keremeos and Crater Mountain.  Our southern most destination in this part of Canada is Osoyoos, near the Pocket Desert. (three days)

We then head north up Highway 97 to Penticton, and along the Okanagan Lake to Kelowna, Vernon, and Salmon Arm.  Kekuli Bay, Ellison, and Kalamalka Provincial Parks populate this stretch. (three days)

Our trip heads east to Revelstoke, where Mt Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks await on Canadian Highway 1.  Golden lies just across the time zone, near the entrance to Yono National Park.  Crossing up into the Rockies, we'll stop at Lake Louise before we may head south to see Banff. (three days)

The road north out of Banff skirts the Alberta/British Columbia border through the heart of the Canadian Rockies.  We cross back into British Columbia at Jasper, and decide whether to drive further north to Prince George or go south on Highway 5 to Kamloops.  Arriving back at Hope, we'll retrace our route home from there.  We need to be home by September 9th for a series of important meetings.  (nine days)

The drive can be made in 10 days, and we've got 26.  That's plenty of time to spend seeing some of the most beautiful mountains, rivers, and forests Canada has to offer.

  

Saturday, July 13th, 2013 WorldFest Music Festival

Greetings!

We're up at the Grass Valley (Nevada County) Fairgrounds for the 4-day 2013 WorldFest Music Festival, and having lots of fun.  Our friends, Richard and Brenda Nichols, are here too, and we're comparing notes and having wine and chips together.

Here are the photos from Thursday night and Friday:  2013 WorldFest

Gregory