Pictures Border crossing and Seattle - no pictures at Boeing

Peace Arch crossing into Washingtion

Space Needle Seattle WA

Update October 27 to November 10, 2011

October 27, 2011

Left Pacific Border RV Park, in White Rock, BC at 9:00 am.  Arrived at Peace Arch Border crossing at 9:15.

Prettiest border crossing we have been through, only non-commercial vehicles.  On the peace arch itself the words are “Brethren Dwelling Together in Unity”.

With all the questions I had prepared to answer for customs, I could not come up with one they asked.    When we told them how long, he wanted to know how he knew we would go back to Canada as we could only be here 181 days, we said because it is our home and he kept repeating it so I finally said, I really don’t know how to answer that one other than that we are returning.  He did let us through with no questions on what we had in trailer or taking back so I guess that part was OK.

We are heading towards Seattle today, not a very long driving day but we wanted to stop at the Boeing Airplane factory for a tour as we had heard it was pretty good.  Unfortunately, there are two Flight type attractions and I put the wrong one in our GPS. SO, we got to see Seattle from the southbound lanes and the northbound.  Yes, one in GPS was south of Seattle, Boeing north.

The turnaround was worth it as it is amazing seeing these huge planes in a warehouse size of football fields.  They have for their employees several different restaurants, hospital and rest areas.  This facility in Everett is home to 747, 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliner, which is one of the newest they make and are one of the smaller ones that go to the small airports. I am going to attach their website as I would just be telling what they have in it.   http://www.boeing.com/commercial/tours

By the time we left here, it was rush hour traffic in Seattle so we got to see it again but a little slower this time!  Managed to get a picture of the Space Needle (Sleepless in Seattle).  We arrived at our Tacoma KOA park around 6:00 PM which was dark so really did not see much of park at all.

October 28, 2011

Left Tacoma, WA for Oregon.  Washington scenery is quite like northern Ontario, lots of trees, some open spaces. Then they go and throw mountains at you!  We went past Mt. Rainier which is still an active volcano but has not had any activity since 1800 and as of 2010, no imminent activity.  This is the one that they expected to erupt rather than Mt. St Helen’s.

Further south is Mt. St. Helens with did erupt in 1980 and it is still a very active volcano with earthquakes and steam from it as of 2008, but no actual eruption.  We did stop at the information centre at Mt. St Helens and did the tour, very interesting.

**Trivia – word volcano is from Vulcan’s anvil – he is the god of beneficial and hindering fire and the sound was as an anvil being struck.

Drove through downtown Portland, Or.  Bridges everywhere and totally amazing.  This is definitely a port land. Just driving through, was an experience in itself.  Long drive today, staid at Shamrock Village RV Park.  Since we have already discovered/decided that all  R.V. parks must include railway access, it was funny that this is the only one that said “frequent train traffic in area”.  First time since we have been travelling that actually ordered in something for dinner – pizza, don’t get that much anymore a we have a relatively small freezer on trailer, won’t fit Delicios>>>

October 29, 2011

Left Eugene OR headed for California!  This area is another mountainous one and everyone has been saying that as long as we get through the Siskiyou’s we are OK.  This trip through south end of Oregon has a location called Grant’s Pass and people who normally travel this way to go south say that if the trucks come through the Pass with snow on them, they just stay put and don’t go through.  There are signs about chains, etc. through here as well.  Once we started, was not bad at all.  We have been through much steeper and higher and longer mountains going through Alberta/British Columbia.  It was a great ride and not that scary.

Arrived in Redding CA and was hot and sunny – so we were sitting out in the warm California sun, glass of wine in hand.  Do you all realize how many songs there are about California and their cities?  I now do know the way to San Jose. (we didn’t go though)

Lovely country side, Mount Shasta in the background and the lake is beautiful as well

We only going to stay overnight, but got up in morning and had a flat on one of the trailer tires.  We called out ERS which is our trailer insurance, they came and changed the flat but we could not get a repair done as tire places were closed on Sunday and not sure what we would need.  So we unhooked the truck and did a bit of sightseeing in the area and out for dinner.

October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween to you all!!

We drove from Redding CA to Petaluma CA which is just outside of San Francisco. On the way down we saw acres of trees and not sure what they were. We were advised by one of the welcome centers to stock at the he Olive Pit for a taste testing.  That’s when we found out that this whole area is olive trees and that is what we kept passing.  We ended up buying a jar each of Jalapeno stuffed and Garlic stuffed – yummy!  The country side was mountainous as well, but just small ones all around.  We drove around San Pablo Bay and then into Petaluma KOA Park.  Very nice KOA, people very helpful, nice sites, a bit expensive but most KOA are as they tend to be closer to attractions.  This one had shuttle service to San Francisco but it ended today so we had to do our own driving which we will see how that works out.

November 1 2011

Went into San Francisco today, drove over the Golden Gate Bridge as this is another thing to do in San Francisco and turned right instead of left.  Good thing about it, we ended up at the Pacific Ocean side which we had not really planned on doing here. We went to the Seacliff area; there were sea lions on the rocks on the cliff.  There were huge waves coming in and we did see some surfer’s and yes I did put my feet in the ocean. 

From there we drove through town again and to Fisherman’s Wharf area. Parked at Pier 39 and walked around the pier (this is mostly stores, restaurants and shopping). They had sea lions just lying around the area, calm as could be; they feed them of course so they will stay.  Could see Alcatraz from the dock – did not do the tour, was not a must do.  From there we walked around the actual Wharf for a while looking at boats. Got so see Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant.  We did get on a cable car as that was a must do in San Francisco (I didn’t see anyone with flowers in their hair).  Pretty nifty, cables only, no motors, and the drivers are actually called “brakemen” as they put the brakes on going down hills.  They don’t go roaring down the hills though.  We did go down the Bullet hill (Steve McQueen movie for those that don’t know it), but he went much faster. Took a different one back to the Wharf and did some more walking around.  Took pictures of different shots of bay and bridge.

November 2, 2011

Decided to do some driving along the coast and to Sonoma.  We left park and drove along to Bodega Bay. 

.We stopped and had lunch at the Tides in Bodega Bay (which is where “The Birds” with Tippi Hendren was filmed – trivia Melanie Griffins Mom). Clam chowder and salad with shrimp was really good. Saw see lions out in the bay. The Hwy 1 coastal drive is amazing, high cliffs above the ocean, large waves, views were beautiful; we stopped at one outlook point and saw the surfers again and there was a couple in a truck with binoculars and they were watching for whales as they normally are going south this way at this time of the year. We have not seen any; closest was statue at Fisherman’s Warf.  We had not driven with the rig on the coastal waterways at all and I was going to suggest we do that route heading south, but having seen the above with truck, would not want to be pulling our rig through some of the hairpin turns around that way.

From here we left and went inland to Armstrong Redwoods State Preserve, which also had some really large redwoods, these trees are huge.  They actually name them and post dimensions; the one we took pictures with was Parson Jones – 310’ high, diameter 13.8’ and approx. 1300 years old – this is not the oldest or biggest but was amazing anyway.

Left there and headed back inland to the Sonoma Valley – this is a smaller area and nicer drive than the Napa.  As we were later than we thought we would be, we only had the chance to stop at one winery; smaller family owned one name Mayo Family Winery for a tasting.  One thing down here, all the wineries charge for tasting, unlike some of ours in Ontario. 

November 3, 2011

Left San Francisco and headed south to Bakersfield, this route took us on the other side of San Francisco Bay, another great view of city and bridges.  The terrain around here was again mountainous but not large ones, the area was like big mounds of sand.  Arrived and staid at the Bakersfield Travel Park.  This was a different little park, for our rig, they gave us two sites that we were almost kitty corner in, which was fine for a one night stay and the price was right.  We would be boon docking in some places if it were not for the temperatures still going down pretty cool at night and no genny. As we travel south should get warmer and we may do a bit more of that.

November 4, 2011

Left for Lake Havasu City – we are now in the Mohave Desert, did not think I would see anything but flat and dirt, but there are some terrific mountains and the shrubs that do grow here are plentiful, just very short bushes and desert plants, yucca’s, Joshua trees and teddy bear cactus.  I took their picture as we came over a hill and there was a whole forest of them; they looked soft and kind of fuzzy, but up close, mean guys, but the big horn sheep eat them so there is something good in them.   There were areas all around with a wash which is where the water can flow through when there is rain; they don’t get a lot but it really flows down the mountains.  We went through Tehachapi pass, elevation of 4064’ and all around the mountains there were thousands of windmills, and is one of California’s largest windmill farms and wind resource areas.

Arrived Lake Havasu – we have checked out this resort and area, and have decided to stay a month and do some side trips around this area before moving on to another warmer destination.  The resort is really nice and the price is right for a full month, not 28 days; full hook up, water, power, sewer, WIFI and cable TV all included plus any activities we may want to join in.  There are two pools and recreation area as well as putting/chipping greens.  This is the first park we have stayed at that does not have a train track practically running through it!  There is a little municipal airport though, but not much traffic and none at night.

 As we are staying, will just be doing up blog as to what we are doing as trips and interesting day trips.  I am having trouble already remembering what day we did what, good thing my camera has a date feature!

We have done a bit of touring around Lake Havasu City area.  This is west coast of Arizona, on California border, one side of the lake California, other side Arizona. We have done a bit of a drive around and have discovered that they have several light houses that we need to explore. The city was founded by   Robert Paxton McCullough who was an American entrepreneur most notable for McCulloch Chainsaws and for purchasing the old London Bridge and moving it to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Lake Havasu sparked the imagination of McCulloch, who purchased 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) of lakeside property along Pittsburgh Point, the peninsula that eventually would be transformed into "the island" (wk). .

We went north yesterday to Las Vegas and Hoover Dam.  We did the dam tour which included seeing the generators and going down into the dam and going through one of the tunnels to the spillway.  The dam is 726’ deep and powers Arizona and California, two separate towers diverting the water where it needs to go. They have recently built a bridge to go around the dam as the highway used to lead directly to it and the traffic jams were major.  The bridge is very impressive; you can walk along it as well to see the dam.  Lake Mead which is the manmade lake now is a major recreational area for both states in side of the Colorado River.  From here, we headed off to Las Vegas.

We chose to stay at the Golden Nugget, as someone at the park here recommended it and as well the Fremont St Experience.  This is in downtown Las Vegas where some of the older hotels are and they have covered 5 city blocks with a large screen that has different shows and music.  One of the sections at one point, showed a rocket being shot off and it just roared all the way down the length of this screen – really cool.  The hotel we stayed at had a shark tank inside that was neat to see and the heated pool was around it.  This area is actual in the centre of the hotel but is outside so can get the sun when it is warm.  This morning the life guards were at their posts in sweat suits and hoodies but there were still people in the pool.  We had a nice dinner there walked around outside and the people are really worth watching – like Walmart pictures only some much better looking people.  Everyone was in party mood and enjoying themselves. 

We left there this morning and headed back home with a quick stop at Laughlin, NV – another city that was built on someone’s whim.  Don Laughlin liked the area, had the property and built the first casino here, he has a car museum as well, some of you may know of it.  There are now about 6 casino’s with more on the way.  Town itself is growing quickly.

November 10 2011             

Ken’s birthday today, his birthday present is service oil, filter and transmission on truck and Chinese food for dinner.  Not much else happening as waiting for truck to be returned for quite a while.

Another side note, if any descriptions or observations are not quite what they should be, it because of the way we see things - and its our blog so we can say want we want - so there....  LOL


November 11, 2011

Remember.

Vancouver and area

This weekend we are going to Vancouver Island for a tour.  We will be meeting up with Joe and his family, our friends Sharon and Terry’s son.

October 22, 2011 (Saturday)

We arrived around 9:30 am at the Ferry terminal in Twesssan for our trip to Nanaimo, very expensive and we only took the truck - $77.00 one way, pay for vehicle as well as each person.  At the time I wondered if the locals got a break on the rate and found out they did not.  Was raining most of the way to the ferry, slowed down for a while and then started again.  We did get a view of the island as we were coming in to the dock.  This trip was 2 hours. 

We arrived at Duke Point port at Nanaimo and it was raining again.  We did drive around the area from port just north park of Nanaimo along the coast and drove to the downtown area.  At this time of year, did not really get out there to do much looking around. There were some shops but the water front we did not really stop at.  Ended up going to a small restaurant in town MGM for lunch and then started on our southern trip to Victoria. 

Drove south to Ladysmith, overlooking the Georgia Straight, restored buildings and really quite pretty.  Kept driving until we reached Cheaumanus Rd, Went down the scenic route and found a little park on the beach.  Went for walk to the beach area and found a few more sites along its shores, pictures to follow.

Further south to Duncan, whose claim to fame is totem poles as well as just plain small town sights and sounds.

Still travelling south, through mountains

We are staying in Victoria overnight, Joe made arrangements to stay at hotel in area and got us a good rate and we ended up with an updated room, the rate was $69.00 a night for the family rate so Uncle Ken and I got a good one  and I certainly did not find that rate anywhere on our own. (They did offer to have us stay with them, but I did not want to put them out

 By the time we got down to Victoria, we were tired and had dinner at hotel Sandman, in the Shark Club Pub. Sports bar, the food and wine was good, there were hockey and football games going on and the staff was friendly (and good looking – ask Ken).We made arrangements to meet the kids in the morning for breakfast.

October 23, 2011 (Sunday)

Went to Joe and Tanya’s to meet up with them and to finally meet Tanya and Sydney and Mason.  We had a nice visit then got the kids dressed and headed out for breakfast.  Started to go to Denny’s, but arrived there around 10:00 am and was packed, ended up going to the ABC Market and had instead.  

From there they took us down to the harbour and took us by the parliament buildings where the parking is free on Sundays and since we were walking any way it was a great place to park.  Knowing the locals help.  We did a harbour tour, walked around there as well as up to the Empress Hotel and the legislative buildings; gardens outside still have pansies in bloom.  Went for a walk through the Empress, was really gorgeous, and did not stop for tea at $75.00 a pop. From there Joe drove us towards Mile 0 and they left us.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time spent with them; it was a little bit of home for us and probably them as well.  With big hugs and kisses all around, from us and their parents/grandparents, we bid them farewell.  Thanks for a great time guys!!

We then took the beach road up the rest of the way.  The views were amazing all the way through; we stopped at several sections to look out at the waterways.  Some of the homes along here were simply huge, landscaping amazing, everything was still in bloom.  Even sections where the trees are turning coulours, the grass is still so very green and many of the homes had palm trees as part of their landscaping, so could be a maple and a palm right beside it.  If we ever moved here, I would need to learn to garden and that is so not me. (others I can see would really love it – Mrs. W).

One sight that Joe had told us about is a mountain you could get to and see all around the island, this was in Mount Douglas Park in the Saanich area.  This park has huge trees, and as probably part of the ever present rain, there are ferns growing wild as well.  When we stopped, I was walking through trees that leaves had fallen from and there was a single maple leaf that had to be 10” around.  We did go to the summit and the view was amazing – full range of the island, water, farm, urban and forest – you could see it all.  We followed coast as long as we could and then went back inland.

While doing this, we noticed a few wineries and decided to do some stopping.  Found the first one, Church and State and did a sampling, then I had some lost time and could not find the other one, so we proceeded north to the ferry.  When you get to a terminal area, there is nowhere to go except the ferry. We arrived just as it was loading and we got right on at 4:00 pm.  This one went through the islands to get back to the mainland – I did not realize there were a bunch of small islands around Vancouver Island that people lived on.  Also, if you live on any of the islands, you still need to spend the same amount to get on and off as not locals do, so this does limit choices as it is so expensive, a family of 4 could cost around $100.00 each way.   No animals, mammals or fish seen on any of the trips across.

We arrived back home around 6:30, turned on the heater and went out for dinner.

Even though we found it expensive to get to and from the island, it is a trip we had to take, as you never know when you’re going to get a chance to do it again.  The bonus is we got to see “family” (see note above) as well.

October 24, 2011

Today is a work day, getting trailer cleaned up and stuff stowed away as we will be leaving on Thursday to head toward Seattle.  Need to find what we can and can’t take and probably give some food away.  I don’t want to through any out if possible; I had been good about where we were buying but a few nights did not feel like much for dinner so have extras.

I have added some pictures as well under separate blog - take note, Ken is still wearing shorts, I of coursed wimped out but I never did say I was going to wear them all the time!

Various BC Pictures - update picture

3rd Beach Stanley Park, Vancouver BC

Skyline Vancouver City, BC

Totems in Stanley Park

View of city from Stanley Park

Another palm tree

My sister ship by the sea

Duncan Totems

Our tour guides - Joe, Tanya, Sydney and Mason

Ken at Mile 0

Ken and I at the Empress Hotel Victoria BC

Small Tug Taxi, Victoria |Harbour

View 1

View 2

View 3

View 4

Terry Fox Monument at Mile 0 Victoria BC

Acutal totem in Duncan

The White Rock from White Rock BC

Chilliwack tree turning

Pacific Border RV - as of October 18, 2011

October 18, 2011

After a quiet and rainy 2 weeks in Chilliwack, where we did celebrate Thanksgiving, just the two of us which was a little different than other years.   I have pictures of the park, where the grass is very green but the few non evergreen trees have changed colours totally since we got here.

We are now in Pacific Border RV Park, right at the border of BC and Washington. We are at 0 Ave. and if we walk down this street, need to stay on our side as the other is U.S. and we were told if wrong side, they will bring you home!  There is a small pub just beside the park that we went to for dinner on Friday, reasonable and Friday’s have wine at $3.00 off – my kind of pub..

 The sun has been shining since we got here, not really warm, but with the sun out, it makes you feel better (me at least!!).  Park is very nice pool, hot tub, also has tools that you can borrow if you want for minor issues and the ONLY park we have been to that encourages you to wash your rigs – right on your sight.  We are going to take this opportunity to do some cleaning and waxing.

Am managing to get some sigh seeing in again. 

We are just outside of White Rock, BC which is a great little tourist town on the water – the street is one side all stores and restaurants, the other beach side is walk ways and beaches.  Pretty quiet at this time of year, and some places closed down, but still nice for a walk.  We did this area then drove around up the rest of the water ways.

Today drove to check out where the ferries were for trip to Vancouver Island – Victoria and Nanaimo.  They leave from Twassen (sic) which is about ½ hour from here so that is pretty close and all highway driving. We drove right up to gate, did not realize could not get out but at least got to speak to one of the ticket agents and were advised that in morning, Nanaimo would probably be the least busy; most people in am go to Victoria, probably work related.  We will be going there on weekend as want to spend some time on Island.

We went into Vancouver as well and to Stanley Park.  This place is another really amazing area.  It is a large park, right downtown Vancouver – huge trees, different areas to see, 3 beaches and all within walking distance from of the large high rises in the area.  Even a Sunday in October, it was very busy.  Bike rental places all along the streets leading up to park.  There are separate areas for walking, biking and boards. We stopped and looked at the Totem poles and then we walked the sea wall at one side, looked out into the port and Lions Gate bridge, several freighters coming in.  Along with these were all the small pleasure boats, still out and about on ocean and rivers at this time of year. 

 Went over to Prospect point and 3^rd Beach, the beaches had people on them still as well.  Did not see any large sea creatures but did see jelly fish in the water and on the beach – again not expecting to see something like this in Canada – always thought they needed warmth. There is an aquarium, several restaurants and picnic areas all over the park.  There were people just sitting on benches in the sun reading, you could probably do this for hours.  The only fee is parking which was $5.00 ($10.00 in summer) for the day and you could drive around to another area if you wanted, at any time.

Bye for now, will keep updating info.

September 25 to October 5, 2011

September 25, 26 & 27, 2011

We are planning to go to Chilliwack BC. in couple days, Tuesday but have to do what they call a loop around, which is we have to go off of Hwy. 1 Trans Canada and go up Hwy 33 to Kelowna and then back down Hwy #97 to 3A and back onto Hwy #1 again. It is about 100 kilometers longer but goes through the valleys rather than over mountains and is a beautiful scenic drive. If it is too long a trip to Chilliwack we will stay at an RV park as most of them are still open until Oct. 15.  Some are open all year but hard to find sometimes.

Just a quiet day at campsite, Ken washed the trailer down yesterday and today we did some detailing on the trailer, looks great when just cleaned and all bugs gone!  The front gets all the bugs against when driving, just like your windshield.  Met another couple that think they want to do the travelling but are having trouble selling their home, they are not sure if they really want to or just close it up for a few months.

Our last day at Christina Lake, raining out, Ken has done some waxing but could not do much.  It was very windy here today as well.  We were in trailer with the door open reading and heard a loud noise and thought it was large pine needles on the roof again as they have been falling all day, but it was actually a branch had fallen off a tree and came down our door onto the step.  Nothing was damaged, just pine juice on the door, but if it had hit the roof dead on could have lost some sky lights.  Leaving in am for Hope, BC. as did not want to travel as far as Chilliwack.

September 27, 2011

We took HWY 33 this time as we had discussed earlier since this was not supposed to be as winding or steep curves and turns.  The road was pretty good, there was one mountain we climbed from when we left Kelowna *(2100 ft.) to top of mountain (5300 ft.) climbing the whole time.  The scenery difference between when we left the Okanagan Valley through to Hope was so very different.  The Valley is green and lush, plants and flowers blooming drive up the mountain we were looking up and could not figure out what it was, the section had been totally clear cut, not a tree to be seen, it looked from afar like someone had just chopped the mountain off!  Further along we were still climbing and turning to another side of the mountain, and were driving through the clouds.  The mountains off to the side were close and we could actually see ice and some snow at the top.  Coming down the mountain, the trees were totally different again.  All through BC there are evergreens, not many leafy trees and no maples.  Here there were some leafy trees including a couple of maples and they were still green.  I did take pictures but not sure if they will tell the story, this is when a professional photographer or a really great camera would be nice to have.  Will post but don’t know if they will do it justice.

This Hwy also had signs all along advising of weather conditions and warnings that from October 1 to April 30, 2011 snow tires required and to carry chains as well.  There are even places to pull off when you get on and through to put the chains on and take them off again. Mountains are great as long as there is no weather you need to deal with.  If you live here, you don’t need to go far if you don’t want to so they know how to stock up. Arrived in Hope.

September 28, 2011

The park we are in is totally covered in trees and as we are right into the side of the mountain, there was hardly any light at all, even when the sun was shining so it made it seem dreary.  I did get a couple of pictures of the mountain in the clouds again which still amazes me.

Wanted to do some sightseeing while here, went to town of Hope, they have an artist that did carvings all over the city that started with one, which was a tree that had died and he did the carving with a chainsaw – amazing detail, I took a couple of pictures of these.  After we left Hope, we then proceeded to Hell’s Gate (from Hope to Hell – go figure!) There are several tunnels through the mountain that you need to take, could see the other side so not so bad.  The train even goes under the mountain and you can see it from the other side, kind of cool. They have amazing gondola ride across the Fraser Canyon, also had a suspension bridge, which was across as well. Ken was not sure if he wanted to go but did. I am giving you a web site to look at as lo and behold, someone (the official photographer) forgot to recharge the camera.     http://www.hellsgateairtram.com  Will be heading to Chilliwack in am.

September 29 2011

Headed to Chilliwack BC and decided to stay for the week.  The park we are in we asked for no trees and that is what we got.  There are cedars and evergreens on each side for privacy but the top is not covered.  The reason this makes a difference is that if we get debris on the top of the slides, Ken needs to climb on to the roof to sweep it off so it does not get caught in the slide mechanism.  One of our next purchases will be for the covers to go over the slides so that this stop debris and rain from coming in when slides close.

Nice town, all amenities here.  The temperature has been fairly mild but rain most days, just a drizzle some days, not a really hard rain.

September 30, 2011

Not much happened today, just settled in, went visitors centre and reconnoitered the town.  But I really do miss a month end (NOT)

October 1, 2011

We did some shopping around town and at same time, checked out restaurants as decided would be nice to go out for dinner.  Have not been doing that a lot on this trip, so it is a treat.  Found great steak house, reasonable wine and please atmosphere called Mr. Mike, which is a west coast chain and it was excellent.

October 2 2011

Veg day – we are allowed you know – don’t have to be doing something ALL the time!

October 3, 2011

Yesterday drove to Bridal Falls – yes it seems like everywhere here has a Bridal Veil waterfall, so it must mean something.  Did not go to it was further away than thought but going through the trail, the forest was rather eerie.  The trees all had moss cover on them, as very damp, rainforesty I guess you would call it.  There were some huge cedar trees and ferns everywhere, one cedar was broken and other smaller ones were growing up through it. 

From there we went to Minter Gardens which we were recommended but when we arrived, the fee was 17$ each and did not want to spend that much money just to look at flowers (Ken not impressed).  As we were talking about it and leaving, a lady came up to us and offered us a pay one get one free coupon as her and her daughters had it left and they would not be coming back again this year.  We graciously accepted it and Ken just paid the seniors rate so was even less.  There are nice people all over like that, we will reciprocate somewhere down the road.  Once in the gardens though, they were amazing.  We were there for a couple of hours, it was warm enough to walk around, and not rainy.  Pictures are coming but my surprise was when I found palm trees and beside a maple tree to boot. I like Chilliwack!

October 4, 2011

Lazy day today, I have been catching up on updating blog – I really need to write something every day as when I don’t, there are things we do that just don’t catch up here.

We did have a bit of an issue with trailer brakes and looks like we are going to need to upgrade our brake controller on the trailer, not a really big deal, but better safe than sorry.  We did get pricing from large RV dealer here in Chilliwack, so do want to get this done before we hit any more mountains.

Not sure if we are going to be staying another day here or if we are going to head to Vancouver area, checking what the best weather is as we don’t want to head south until November is possible.  We will be going there at some point though to spend at least a week as there are lots of sights to see and we do want to get a chance to drop in and see friends of ours (Terry and Sharon) son Joe and his family.

A note on pictures, I am taking so many and want to make sure I get the most interesting ones out to you.  I have taken tons more so whenever we do get back; you may be bored personally by us with even more.

 Drop us a note if you like either under comments or by email.

By for now and will update as we go.

Pictures - around Hope, Hell's Gate and Chilliwack

Turnout for runaway vehicles

Clear cutting of forest from bottom



Clear cutting up close



Another glacier!

Tunnel through Hell's Gate

Hope at foot of moutain

Our park in the clouds



Carving in Hope



On the Fraser at Hope

One of my favourites - PALM TREE IN CHILLIWACK

Chickens and hens lizard

Look close, palm and maple leaf - why not???

Flower peacock