February 13, 2003

• After a short reprive of illness for Serra~V~, it seems she has developed something else.  She is all stuffed up again.  Poor little boogus.  She did have a doctors appointment today and she finally kicked the ear infections.  She also got a shot we have been trying to get for a while. 

  
  

  We arrived home yesterday from our great Northwestern adventure. 

  
  

  It all started a week ago Wednesday.  We left late that afternoon and started up the coast.  We spent the night at Pismo Beach.  This was our first motorhome adventure and we fared quite well with only a few calls back to Calabasas for questions.  We awoke early Thursday morning and before taking off for a full day of driving went for a short jaunt on the beach.  It was a beautiful morning.  Serra wanted to go clamming but we didn’t have a licence so she was disappointed.  It’s a good thing she isn’t any bigger.  Those RV sinks aren’t very big.  Brian in the shower was a sight too.

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  As we headed further up the coast on Thursday, Brian was so impressed with the beautiful countryside that he took out 4 or 5 cones in a construction zone.  We drove through San Francisco and across the Bay Bridge.  We didn’t get to go across it when we were there last year so that was fun.  It is impressive.  There is an island about half way across called Treasure Island that is pretty cool and would be fun to stop on sometime.  We were amazed at the lack of development in California.  For those of you out there that think California is too crowded you are way wrong.  Outside of the LA and San Francisco areas there are just hundreds and hundreds of miles of farmland and rolling hills covered with Oak trees.  We passed through miles of vineyards, orchards and happy cows.   California surely can boast of their happiness.  They have lots of roaming space.  There are also more trees with clumps of mistletoe than Old St. Nick could ever dream of. 

  
  

  We stopped about 45 minutes north of SF in a town called Vacaville.  We stayed at a RV park that was in the middle of a giant eucalyptus grove.  It smelled great and was a really nice place. 

  
  

  

  
  

  We left early the next morning and met up with Uncle Roger in Redding where we dropped the coach with the owner and were shuttled onward by Uncle Roger.  We made it to Gresham Oregon around 8 pm and ate pizza with a good number of the Roger Arnell clan .  Everyone there made an effort to come and see us including Leslie and her new husband.  Aaron skipped a party so he could visit his cousins and Terry and her family were all there minus her oldest who understandably was not interested in visiting and spent the night with a friend.  Shaunna even stayed up to be a part of it all. 

  
  

  Uncle Roger said something about me being really tired by the time we went to bed.  I was indeed but Brian was worse off than I was and was snoring before he got all the way in bed. 

  
  

  We took it easy the next morning and enjoyed pancakes and eggs made to order a-la-Roger.  It was really quite good.  Then he, Aunt Judy and our small party hopped in the minivan once again and headed up the coast of Oregon —–>Washington——>and on to Canada.  Oregon and Washington boasted many trees and volcanic mountains, and much to Brians pleasure, lots of Bridges.  We didn’t have any trouble crossing into Canada.  I don’t think many terrorist are trying to target the north country. 

  
  

  We made our way through the city and surrounding areas of Vancouver British Columbia until we found the Hyatt.  Brian got a screaming deal on Priceline.com.  Let me say it was a very nice hotel and we were treated really well.  Anytime we came into the lobby we were greeted by name and information we had requested was waiting for us.  When I called the bell hop desk for help with our bags they were there in less than a minute.  Anyway, I was impressed.  We had a wonderful view of the sound. 

  
  

  We wanted to experience Vancouver a bit so we bundled up and headed out into the city.  Brians~V~ got lots of attention as usual.  We wandered around a bit and then decided to eat.  We found a Chinese place that was packed with Chinese people (always a good sign).  It was really tasty. 

  
  

  Back at the hotel room we cleaned up and went to bed (down comforter and pillows) and slept well.   We thought about buying a movie  since they make it so easy but we were too tired and even though it was Canadian dollars $14.99 sounded a bit steep for a movie not on the big screen. 

  
  

  We were awakened by the wake up service at 7:15 and Brian got up and headed to the airport via the hotel shuttle service.  We decided this would be easier since they knew where they were going.  If we had uncle Roger take Brian it would be the blind leading the blind.  Brian was a little anxious to have the coach in his possession and to make sure everything went off without a hitch.  It did.  He met up with the renters at the airport as they were headed back to Switzerland and did all the check in stuff.  He thought it would take longer to get back to the hotel so he told me to meet him downstairs at 10:30.  I called for help with my bags and was downstairs at the appointed time and no Brian.  About 10 minutes later he showed up.  He had been waiting for about 40 minutes and decided to circle the city a bit since he knew I wouldn’t be down for a while. 

  
  

  We got all loaded up and drove to North Vancouver at our camp spot under the Lions Gate Suspension Bridge.  Uncle Roger followed us in his van and I as navigator managed to get us lost a few times.  We didn’t really have a road map and so one way streets or highway entrances weren’t indicated.  We did eventually make it to the RV park.  We parked the coach and hopped in the mini-van yet again and headed north for the day.

  
  

  We didn’t really have a destination in mind, we only wanted to see the scenery a bit.   WOW!  It is some of the most beautiful places I have seen.  It was a bit overcast which gave it all a bit of a haunting atmosphere.  West was the English and Lions Bays.  There are many islands out there with really rugged and forested terrain.  There are ferry docks everywhere that you can take your cars across on.  We went as far north as  Squamish  and ate lunch and then turned around.  The restaurant was called the White Spot and they seem to be all over the place up there.  They have a secret ‘O’ sauce that they won’t tell you the ingredients of.  It was mayo, ketchup, and relish.  It was good though.  ACgeasy was on to it years ago.  On the way back we stopped an took pictures of some of the sights.  One was a waterfall called Shannon Falls.

  
  

  

  
  

  It was very cold outside especially with all the waterfall moisture.  We saw some strange trees too.  Uncle Roger and Aunt Judy dropped us off at the RV Park around 5pm (they didn’t make it back to Oregon till midnight).   At that point it was raining very hard and we were very thankful to just have to climb in to the motorhome, turn on the heater, fire up the stove, and pop in a movie.  Camping by motor home is the best.  We had a great time with Uncle Roger and Aunt Judy and are very grateful for all they did to make everything go smoothly.   

  
  

  The next morning (Monday) we all woke up at the very early hour of 5:30 and decided to get a jump on things and get going.  We were on the road by 6:30 and meandered our way out of Vancouver.  (Meander=become ridiculously lost)  It didn’t help that we didn’t have a good road map  and that Vancouver didn’t have any freeways in it but we did eventually get out of the city.

  
  

  Now Uncle Roger said he didn’t have a hard time getting through the border.   We can’t say as much.  We had all the proper documentation, but they thought we were a little shady anyway.  The coach wasn’t registered in our name or in the name of the business and they though this a little strange.  We were asked to park and go into a holding area.  As we waited in the office, after answering many questions, I pulled out the video camera to document the moment.  BIG MISTAKE!  I was swarmed by border patrol and asked to stop what I was doing and erase it in front of them.  At least they didn’t take the tape away.  Everyone there was very unfriendly and obviously took their job VERY SERIOUS (good thing).  It is as if they are the ones trying to hide something.  We found out later that while the country has been on orange alert this particular border was tested with some people being sent through with fake ID’s.  They got through without any trouble and so the border folk got in a bit of trouble.   Now they are being a bit more cautious.  They went through the whole coach.  I am glad the renters were good people and didn’t leave anything in there to get us in trouble.

  
  

  We drove all day (13 hours to be exact) getting back through Washington and Oregon.  We stopped at a really nice park along the Rogue River in Grant’s Pass Oregon.  They had the place decorated with the owners sculptures.  Interesting to be sure.  We got up Tuesday morning and fed the ducks and saw some cool geese. 

  
  

   

  
  

  We drove again all day Tuesday and realized  at about 4:45 we didn’t  have a designated stopping place.  We had planned to pull off at one along the freeway sometime around 4:00, since there was an RV Park sign every 5 minutes in Oregon, but hadn’t seen one for several hours.  We got on the phone with AAA and they found us a place just outside of Modesto (membership is highly recommended).  Once again we got lost trying to find it.  Getting lost was a commen theme for our vacation…but when you’re having fun who cares? (Brian, that’s who) 

  
  

   On the road again Wednesday it was supposed to be our shortest travel day (only 7 hours). It turned out that luck wasn’t shining on us.  As we traveled along I5 we kept seeing signs about a summit being closed but that was the only information it gave.  We didn’t know which summit it was and figured that if it was actually Interstate 5 that was closed they certainly would have given more information that that so we just kept on going.  Bad idea!  When we finally reached the start of the grapevine (about 90 miles north of LA) we were stopped by police and told that due to the constant rain there had been a mudslide that blocked the southbound lanes.  Needless to say we weren’t overly thrilled with the news and so we turned around and backtracked through Bakersfield and Mojave rather than roll the dice that they would clear it any time soon.  Alot of other people had the same idea as it added 4 hours to our trip, and traffic was horrendous most of the way.  We were really glad to get home.  As it turned out we made the right decision as the grapevine didn’t end up opening back up till after 10pm that evening when we had arrived home around 7.

  
  

  It had quite obviously rained here all day too.  S. Cal was 6 inches behind in moisture for the year and it is now nearly caught up in one day.  All the rain made things pretty interesting at work for Brian and Dad as several of the coaches that were to be rented yesterday were parked in the overflow lot which is pure dirt/clay.  They were able to manage but I’m sure it wasn’t any fun.  

  
  

   Now that it is Saturday, I am finally finishing this entry and have finally finished laundry and we are back into the swing of things.  Brian and Dallas are working up on the roof replacing some old shingles and Serra V is feeling a little better but still has the remnants of a cold.  We had a great trip and despite all the driving really enjoyed ourselves.  We made the comment several times that the driving was actually enjoyable as it was beautiful scenery and we had good company.  Serra V also did great.   

  • 7:36 pm
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