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Goodbye Canada, Howdy USA!
Hello from the Pacific Coast, Oregon. We have made it across the continent and after our previous trek from UK to Australia, we have finally circumnavigated the Globe. Now we just have to keep driving South until we run out of land or money, whichever comes first!
We’ve had a very busy couple of weeks, so we will make this brief.
Vancouver Island – after 3 months driving across Canada, it was a welcome change to be on an island, never more than a couple of hours from the sea. There was some lovely scenery, mountains, lakes, forests, a bit like a miniature version of Canada. The sheltered East coast was quiet with stunning views of the misty islands that lay off shore. Here we met Ken, a softly spoken, charming, well-travelled gent who we shared stories with. We liked Ken a lot, he reminded us of our friend Mike Murray from home.
The West coast was busier, windier and lashed by huge Pacific waves. The towns of Tofino and Ucluelet were very touristy with a mix of surfer and coffee cultures. We camped in a forest for a couple of nights and were visited by a brown bear that hung around for about an hour, not bothered by us standing on the roof of the truck. He posed on a tree for us to take a photo!
Victoria was busy but beautiful. Lovely harbour, great architecture, cute floating houses. There was a classic boat rally on and a blues / rock festival to keep us entertained for the couple of days we were there. On our last night, we were looking for somewhere to sleep when two guys, Keith and Jamis started talking to us about the truck and then invited us back to Keith’s for food and beers and to park on his drive. They had a few friends over and we had a great evening with them. We miss our friends and family a lot, and to be sat among good friends, enjoying their banter and stories was great substitute. And the elk curry was amazing. Thanks guys!
Back to the mainland and Vancouver City. Another lovely harbour, Stanley Park was beautiful, particularly the rose gardens. In the city we walked onto the set of Deadpool 2, got shouted at by police but managed to get some photos and video. Later than evening, we felt we were on another film set, for a zombie movie, as we happened upon an area full of people bombed out on drugs, just lying in the streets for blocks in every direction. The side alleys - which we didn’t venture down from the smell of urine if nothing else - were worse. The only shops open were selling cannabis and legal highs – from the state of the people, it was the legal highs that they were on. It was shocking how accepted and open the drug use was and the sheer number of people involved. Coincidently, this is where we saw our first skunk. It was a bit of a sad end to our time wholesome, beautiful Canada – but it is a country that we will always love and look forward to returning to.
So then it was South into Washington, USA. The border crossing was busy and tedious, but once at the front of queue, we were processed quickly, without problem. The customs officer asked us “You haven’t been to any of those funny countries, have you?”. We looked at him blankly, not sure if it was a trick question. He continued, “You know - Iraq, Iran...”. Good ol’ American diplomacy at its best!
The weather wasn’t great, being a mix of sea mist, cloud and smoke from nearby wildfires, so decided to bypass Seattle, as it was clear we would not be able to get the Frasier skyline view we wanted. We headed off to Aberdeen, Kurt Cobain’s hometown to visit his rather sad and rundown memorial park, next to a bridge he allegedly lived under as a teenager. Nearby there was a great StarWars shop, literally filled with all sorts of related merchandise and homemade scenes from the films. It was clearly run more as a hobby than a business.
Then it was onto Long Beach, where they were holding their annually Rod Run – a hot rod rally. The streets were filled with hundreds of classic American muscle cars, hot rods, rat rods, trucks, VWs from the ‘40’s onwards, driving up and down the 10 mile promenade for 3 days. Admittedly, the sound of over-revved big-block V8’s did get a bit too much for us at times, but it was a free and easy way to spend a few days!
So now we are in Oregon, slowly moving down the coast before heading inland towards Caroline’s Aunty Pat, not far North of the Californian border. It’s been too long since we last saw her, so it will be great to catch-up, see her ranch-style home and her horses again.
TTFN