First and Second Full Days in Canada

Arriving here without a fixed agenda has been somewhat disconcerting, but we've managed to come up with a list of about 100 things that we have to do while in/near Vancouver! Unfortunately, the laws of time and space do not allow that, so we've had to reduce our goals a bit!

Yesterday, June 24th, Saturday, we decided to visit the Pacific Coast. Heading toward White Rock, BC, we stopped at Darts Hill Garden Park. Over seventy years of work guided by the vision of Francisca Darts, and supported by her husband Edwin, has resulted in a garden containing an immense collection of now mature shrubs and trees from around the world. Donated to the City of Surrey, and maintained, through donations, by the non-profit Darts Hill Garden Conservancy Trust Society, who works to give Surrey its own garden to be used as a horticultural center.

A short drive west of the garden brought us to the village of White Rock. A pier juts out into the bay, affording a place for crabbing and fishing to take place. It was also the site of a graduation ceremony for the local high school, and a whole gaggle of young people were dressed to the nines and snapping pictures by the dozens! Nice kids, but they moved too fast for a picture!

After a stroll along the beach, we stopped for lunch at Dock's Fish and Chips for.....fish and chips, and a look at the locals enjoying the warm weather on a nice Saturday afternoon. Many hot rods and restored cars were out cruising.

We took the long way home, via the town of Surrey, where a music festival was the "thing o' the day". Canada highway 56 brought us almost back to our rv park, where we relaxed for the evening. A nice day, and a nice introduction to the area. OK, now what do we do....?

On Sunday, we decided to go in a different direction and drove east on Trans Canada Highway (TCH) 1 to the village of Bridal Falls. Just south of town is the BC Provincial Park named Bridal Falls, surprisingly. A short walk through a cool forest brought us to one of the most beautiful falls we've ever seen!

After our walk, we were a bit hungry, so we headed back west and bailed off the TCH in Chilliwack. Chilliwack is a good sized town, but one which rolls up the streets on Sundays. Almost all of the restaurants were closed, but we did find Homer's, an older place with outdated furnishings, but good food according to Yelp. We ordered Perogies (I added Schnitzel to mine), and found the food to be delicious, if a bit bland, and certainly filling! The perogies were advertised to be stuffed with bacon, onions, cottage cheese and potatoes, but came out with potato stuffing and bacon bits on the top. An interesting addition was the cup of sour cream on the side....

Downtown Chilliwack was closed off so that they could have a car show. There must have been 50 to 75 vehicles of all shapes and sizes! We walked up and down, down and up, looking at the beautiful cars and trucks. It was a bit odd seeing most of the brand names that we are familiar with from the US, but with different model names. A 1960 Pontiac Bonneville was sold in Canada as a Pontiac Parisienne, and Ford marketed Mercury pickups at one time!

Oh, yeah, almost like Gawie's first car.....

The restoration and rebuilding work done on these vehicles is amazing!

We stopped for a small cup of coffee at the local Starbucks on the way out of town, and headed back west to Eagle Wind RV Park. Traffic on the TCH was horrendous going back into Vancouver, so a trip that took us about 40 minutes this morning required an hour and a half this afternoon. We hear this is normal.....

Oh, Canada....Oh, Canada....!!!

We left home on Monday, June 19th, after celebrating our middle grand-daughters' high school graduation on the 17th. Hanna is so beautiful and special and will take her place in society well prepared and able to accomplish so much. We are more than proud of her! She gave an inspiring speech thanking her parents and teachers for their help and support.

At the Waldorf high school that Hanna has been attending, the tradition is for each graduate to select a rose for presentation to their parents at the close of the graduation ceremony as a token of thanks!

Each graduate found their parents in the audience and, with many tears, presented the flowers.

And here we go! Ready for the next chapter!

On Monday, 265 miles north on I5 got us to Weed, CA, where we spent two nights and a day with old friends Jo and Larry, at Friendly RV Park. We've known them since the 70's, but seldom get a chance to spend time together as they are full-timers in their motorhome, and travel about (as we do). The staff at Friendly were able to position our two motorhomes together, to we could get together often. The only issue is that the park only offers 30 amp electricity service, which is not adequate for a large motorhome as ours when we need to run the air conditioners. The outside temp hovered in the mid to high 90's, which meant that the interior of the rv reached near 100 degree heat. Not good! The park is attempting to correct the problem, but cannot find an electrician that will come to Weed for the job. It is a rather out-of-the-way place! We enjoyed a spectacular lunch on Tuesday with our friends at a local restaurant named YAKS, which stands for "Yes, Another Koffee Shop!". Opened as a bakery/coffee shop, the menu has expanded to include a dozen or so awesome hamburgers and sandwiches.

I've included two pages of the menu so you can work up a good hunger!

Donna was a bit overwhelmed when the order arrived!

Larry ordered the Make me want to Cry Garlic Burger, Donna had the Manbourbon Bacon Burger, Jo tasted the Va Va Voom Burger with a veggie patty, and I couldn't help myself....I ordered the Oh My Goodness, How Could This be a Burger, Burger!

After we rolled out of YAKS, we checked out the Headwaters of the Sacramento River near the hamlet of Mt Shasta. This water filters down the slopes and through the rocks of Mt Shasta, requiring 50 years to complete its journey from the high snow capped peak to this point where it gushes out of the side of the mountain, to be "jugged" by everyone who has a wish for pure, pristine, naturally filtered snow water!

We also had a chance to visit the Weed Railroad Park, which commemorates the days when Weed was a bustling railroad town. On the only rail line north and south through the mountains, Weed provided extra engines and support for trains passing through. The Railroad Park is near the foot of a rocky abutment known as Castle Crags.

With Mt Shasta in the mirror, we continued north.

And were treated to this amazing sight: Fog creeping over the mountains!

310 miles later, we cruised into Salem, OR, with a reservation at Hee Hee Illahee RV Resort, operated by a consolidation of local Indian tribes. This is a beautiful park, and provides many, many, amenities.

The next day, Thursday the 22nd, we made our way just 130 miles north to Chehalis, WA. An overnight stop at the local Walmart gave us time to spend the afternoon and evening with our friends Bob and Gabi, who were our neighbors until some 2 years ago when they realized that CA was not entirely to their liking! Smart people! They live in an old farmhouse near rural Tenino, about 10-12 miles from Chehalis. Quiet, rural, and with a barn full of firewood, they are enjoying the good life! We very much enjoyed our time with them, and made short work of a delicious Quiche that Gabi fixed for us!

Today, Friday the 23rd, was a red-letter day for us! After weeks of stressing about prohibited food items, obtaining proper documents, and making sure that Sasha's vaccination papers were in order, we hitched up our drawers this morning and began our journey into Canada. Fearing that we would be "inspected" and/or "tossed", we assembled a folder of papers, threw away most of our vegetables, and hoped that the dog food would be allowed! Also, knowing that our favorite truck stop source of fuel did not operate in Canada, we stopped just north of Bellingham, WA, and topped off the tank (if 83 gallons is defined as "topping off"). Just a few miles north we encountered the Canadian Border Crossing, where we were funneled into a narrow lane with a small booth on one side. Removing our sunglasses, we began to smile at the agent.....and he smiled and said "Good Afternoon1". A few questions about firearms and our itinerary and timetable, and we were on our way! Of course, he scanned our passports, but we laughed at our previous concerns and wished that we had kept those tomatoes that we tossed in the trash at Walmart last night!

We're checked into Eagle Wind RV Park in Aldergrove, BC, Canada. This is a nice, clean park, but is only a 100 yards or so from Trans Canada Highway 1, so the noise level is a little high, but the utilities are working well (ok, the wifi is barely marginal, and we haven't yet figured out how to hook up our phones/hot spots to the local cellular provider). That's why we haven't been able to upload all of our recent photos. Here's hoping we can find a Starbucks somewhere and get it done.

So, after about a thousand miles and five days, we're finally in Canada! We took a short drive this evening into Aldergrove and found it to be much like any other medium sized city. I don't know what we expected....people required to say "eh" and free Molson, I suppose. We have seen a lot of soccer pitchs and hockey rinks, however, so all is not lost! We're here, some 40-odd miles east of Vancouver, for about 6 nights, so I will take photos and try to post them as we explore the area.

So begins our version of celebrating Canada's 150th birthday! The rest of this beautiful country will celebrate on July 1st, Canada Day, but we will celebrate all summer long!

Going North This Year!

We left Tucson the first of April, and trotted west to Yuma, Arizona. We have visited Yuma a number of times in the past, but this time we wanted to have a brief visit to Algodones, Mexico, just across the border near where California and Arizona meet. It was just a day trip, but interesting to see the thousands of items for sale and the hundreds/thousands of people there.

We stayed at Fortuna De Oro RV Resort in Yuma, a nice park with a good dog park for Sasha!

We also visited the Yuma County Fair while we were there. On the first day of the fair, no admission was charged, so we had to go!

A walk around the fairgrounds, a cold drink, a visit to the animal barns, and a few happy minutes watching Guido do magic tricks just about completed the fair. We did get reacquainted with a lady who sells homemade hot sauces. Hot Mama Bella has an online presence, so check it out if you like spicy/hot condiments. She has a unique Jicama based approach to hot sauces, and has now added some Jalapeño and Habanero combinations with fruit and berries that is extraordinary. We met her and bought some things a few years ago, and it was great to see that she's still going for it! She contributes a percentage of her profits to local charities in honor of her mother...Bella.

One of the more unique offerings of the Yuma County Fair was a display of dressed animal carcasses. While somewhat interesting to see what a pig looks like without it's clothes on, we noticed that there weren't very many people around!

Then, back in Cali!

Our time at home has been very relaxing and enjoyable. It's been about two months now, and we've managed to stay busy, but not crazy busy! We had an enjoyable day trip to the San Joaquin delta area just south of Sacramento, where our good friend Ed grew up. He took us to the old Chinese community of Locke, where he used to go after school.

100% Chinese originally, the town began to become more diversified after the turn of the Twentieth Century. The last name of this Italian restauranteur is long lost to folklore, but his establishment lives on!

While we didn't eat at Al's, we had to go in to inspect the famous ceiling. Legend has it that the dollar bills stuck to the ceiling were placed there by patrons who balanced a thumbtack and a dollar bill on a silver dollar and flipped it toward the ceiling. Don't quite know how the FFA jacket got there.....

On one wall, this stuffed Pike bears witness to the huge fish in the Sacramento River Delta region!

Ed showed us the elementary school that he attended, the house he grew up in, and several places on the river where he had summer jobs. Thanks for a nice day, Ed and Rosemary!

Donna bough a new dune buggy this last spring to replace the older one that was about to fall apart, so she and her best friend Suzi needed to go "over the hill" into western Nevada to have a day in the dirt. Thankfully, Donna's new red buggy ran fine! Those are the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains in the background.

On June 10, our family gathered for a celebration of my XX'nd birthday! We enjoyed a great bicycle ride around Lake Natoma and then had a great lunch with TriTip sandwiches, pasta salad, and all the fixings! Thank you, fam, for the grand day!

So now we arrive at the third week of June.....Our middle grand-daughter graduates from high school tomorrow, June 17th, an event we have been anticipating for some time! Hanna is a lovely girl who has done well in school and is already signed up for college in the fall. She has made us very proud!

We will soon leave NorCal for points North. Canada is celebrating it's 150th birthday this year, and we want to help celebrate! It will be a short trip through the southwestern provinces, but enjoyable nevertheless. We're looking forward to it! We hope to be back in the States in time for the solar eclipse in August, another bucket list thing!

Check in with us from time to time. We'll post some of the sights we see and things we do and food we eat!

Leaving Arizona, 2017

After two months in Tucson, AZ, we are heading back west. Our time here has been enjoyable and informative, and we've had time to form friendships with a great number of people from all over the United States and Canada. Dave and Sue from Utah were among the first to welcome us to Snowbird-Land, and we shared stories over lemonade lunches several times. Miles and Margery are stationed across the street and are originally from our part of Northern California. We were able to swap dog-sitting with them and their owner, Peaches.

On the street behind us a group of Canadians has taken up residence, eh. The social hours with them have been very enjoyable. It's a kick to hear about different regions and to hear differing opinions of what the rv lifestyle is like....some good stories, and, of course, some bad. Graham and Pam are from British Columbia and have told us about a lot of things to see in that province and in particular, the Okanagan Valley.

Donna's Facebook friend, Diane and her husband, Bill, who are staying in an rv park some forty miles north of Tucson, have become good friends. Bill is an expert in grilling and BBQ in general, and we were fortunate to be invited to eat some of his handiwork! Good job, Bill! Diane is recovering from an injury to her foot, but has gotten to the point where she is in a walking cast, on the way to recovery. Good on you, Diane! Our friends from previous years of staying in Tucson, Ted and Phyllis, have been here again this winter, and we've been happy to enjoy a number of lunches with them. They have been wintering in Tucson for some 14-15 years, and know most of the hot restaurants by now!

The weather has been screwy in Tucson this last February and March, as it has across most of the US.  February was cold and windy, while March started out very warm, it has ended with rain, cold, and wind. Forty mile per hour gusts woke us up on 3/30, and it rained enough to ruin the look of the car this morning on the 31st! As our Canadian friends say, the weather is balmy (compared to minus something Celsius), but to us it has been chilly!

So what have we been doing for the last two months? Uh, let me see....we get up at about 8:30, walk the dog, have coffee. By then it's lunch time. Or time to think about a late lunch at about 2. Then something productive like laundry and television, and we fall into bed exhausted from having had such a strenuous day....

We've visited Biosphere II, an ecological laboratory operated by the University of Arizona. Originally built to explore how humans could survive without external input, i.e., food, water, clothing, etc, the experiment has morphed into an environment where climate changes can be controlled and the resulting changes in plant life can be measured. With rainforests, savannas, and deserts inclosed in strictly controlled environments, a variety of experiments can be designed to measure, for example, how much water soaks into a specific type of soil over a specified length of time. A bit esoteric for the likes of us, but valuable research, nevertheless. Sad that it will take generations to explore the many possibilities.

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Ted and Phyllis had been to Biosphere several times, but enjoyed another visit.

One lazy afternoon, we drove north to the town of Florence, AZ. Along the way, we stopped at a Memorial to the cowboy actor Tom Mix. A checkered past and a self-promoting demeanor catapulted Tom into the Cowboy Movie genre of the 30's and 40's. Tom had been in Las Cruces, New Mexico on October 10, 1940, when, at the age of 60, he headed west toward Tucson. He was to attend the christening of his grandson, Tom III, in Phoenix, and stopped at the Santa Rita Hotel in Tucson for the night. The next morning, Tom left Tucson, but stopped in Oracle Junction, just north of town for a few hands of cards with his friend, Death Valley Scotty and some other old friends. A few rounds of moonshine and many tall tales later, Tom climbed into his custom-built yellow Cord roadster, and took off north toward Phoenix.

Unbeknownst to Tom, highway construction had left a large pile of debris and dirt at what is now known as Tom Mix Wash. At about 2:30, the construction crew heard the noise of an automobile approaching at a high rate of speed. The distinctive Cord sound was the only sound heard, and then stopped abruptly. A cloud of dust marked the spot where the car had hit the barrier. Later estimates of 80 mph speeds were noted, with no evident effort to slow down prior to the accident. Now, Tom had loaded his Cord with luggage, the largest being a leather bound trunk. When the workers approached the overturned car, they miraculously saw a figure crawl out from below, and stand, a bit unsteadily, beside the ruined car. Their relief turned to horror as the large leather-bound trunk slid off of the car and struck the Tom Mix in the back of the head.

The King of the Cowboys was felled by a piece of luggage.

In the car were found jewels, $6,000 in cash and traveler's checks. Rumor has it that the trunk that caused Tom's demise was full of silver dollars, but that has never been substantiated. At that place, near Tom Mix Wash, a memorial stands to one of the most colorful of the Cowboy Heroes.

One of our day trips took us to Saguaro National Park. Divided into two sections, East and West, we decided to tour the West section. Thousands of Saguaro Cactus and blooming Ocotillo and Barrel Cactus were a delight to see. There's nothing quite like the desert to take advantage of a bit of rain and some warming temperatures!

And how could we not enjoy an Arizona sunset?

So, after some motorhome repairs, some shopping, some naps, and a lot of food, we are about ready to leave Tucson for this year. We are going to work our way west to celebrate my Mom's 97th birthday (Yaaah, Mom!) and then home to NorCal for a bit. A few projects around the house will keep us busy, and hopefully Donna will get a chance to enjoy her new dune buggy before we run away from home for the summer! We have enjoyed the Arizona desert, but look forward to seeing our family and friends again!

Until about June.....Take Care!