Adventure in the mud at Dove Creek, Colorado

The one night we decided to camp on the side of the road we nearly got bogged because it rained all night. We had gone up a dirt road and into a bit of bush to set up camp and the next morning we drove out onto the dirt road, now a quagmire. Al drove like a rally driver for about a half a mile to the highway. He steered and the car slid all over the place; I prayed and we made it with out getting stuck.

The Wild West

My apologies for taking so long to up date the blog. After travelling through the Mountains of Montana we found ourselves in the most amazing plains country. Apparently it was Blackfoot Indian land. It went on for miles with the Rocky Mountains in the background. It was stormy and raining and we took some fantastic pictures of the sky and hills with a magnificent rainbow over it. If you get out the map you will see we came over the mountains and then travelled south along the boarders of Montana, Wyoming and Utah and into New Mexico. We were heading into desert country and the scenery changed from these lovely rolling hills, through more magnificent Rocky Mountain vies to red canyons and sage bush. Wyoming and Utah are the "wild west".

We went to Yellowstone National Park and saw the famous Old Faithful that faithfully did its thing but unfortunately for us the camera ran out of battery at the last minute and we MISSED getting it on film.

Glacier National Park, Montana

From Tri-Cities, we took Dick's advice and headed for the magnificent Glacier National Park in Montana. It was everything that we were told and more. The scenery in this park is spectacular. Lakes, forests, snow capped mountains. Every turn was Aaaaw, will you look at that!!!!

Back to Seattle and off to Tri-Cities

After an excellent visit to Vancouver we headed back to our friends, Dan and Karlene in Seattle where we bought a car. Its very reliable (so far). A Honda Civic LX. We bought it through a broker ( the broker cost $300) and he took us to a number of dealers that he knew and we chose he car. All up with insurance paid, rego for 12 months, broker and the car it cost us just under $5,000. On the Memorial Weekend we headed off with Dan and Karlene to Karlene's family in Tri-Cities (Richland, Kennewick and Pascoe) in East Washington. We stayed with Dick and Lyn and caught up with Don and Terri and their families. They made us very welcome and Lyn's cooking was to die for. Dick bought a didgeridoo when he visited us in Australia and he plays it really well. We really enjoyed our stay there and appreciate the kindness and generosity of the Hodgeson family. They set us up and got us on our way for a big touring adventure of the states.

Grouse Mountain, Vancouver

We had a great day trip to Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain where we went on the Sky Train. The Capilano Suspension Bridge was 100 years old ( I think they have done some safety updates) and the park had been added to with a series of suspension bridges strung among the trees. It was really worth the visit. We took a lot of photos and somehow managed to put the camera on black and white with only one colour. It produced some pretty good pics.

Stanley Park, Vancouver

Stanley Park is the most beautiful public park. It takes up a whole peninsula of Vancouver Bay. We had a lovely day there. There is a great collection of totem poles that was very interesting. We hired bikes and rode around the perimeter of the park. Al fell of his bike into a puddle, the only puddle on the road, and got mud all over his foot and leg. I of course laughed. We had lunch and watched the beach touch football and to boats out at sea. It was a really relaxing and lovely day. We also took a picture of a raccoon in the wild. Its a big park. After such a pleasant day we taxied it back to the hostel, collected our gear and headed back to Seattle.

The Templeton Cafe, Vancouver

Just across the road from the hostel is the Templeton Cafe. It served great organic food and became our haunt while we were in Vancouver. The place had a great 1950's feel and had interesting period info on the tables. I particularly liked this Wonder Woman cartoon.

Vancouver, Canada

We stayed in Vancouver for a week. We caught the train up from Seattle. Another scenic journey. Vancouver is definitely a place to visit. In the spring and summer we both agreed that we could easily live there. Its very easy to get around as they have excellent public transport. We stayed in the Samesun Hostel in the downtown area. We we were the oldest people there but the "young people" we shared the room with were really interesting and doing great things. One guy had just returned from riding his pushy around NZ, Australia and Asia and was riding up to visit his friends in Victoria (Canada) about 100 ks up the road. A lot of them were young Aussies travelling the ski fields, snowboarding, skiing and partying (obviously) and working in Canada to finance their travels.

Both Seattle and Vancouver have some great public art. We wandered around the city and visited a banking building that had a great public display about the Aga Khan Development Network and the work they are doing around the world. It was excellent. The young woman who showed me around had done her degree in architecture and religion, which I thought was really a great combo. She was very passionate about the restoration work that the Network were doing. One of the interesting things they were doing was collecting plastic bags and melting them down, mixing them with sand and turning them into paving blocks.

We did so much in Vancouver and had such a great time there. The only real down side in the cities that we have seen has been the number of homeless people. In Vancouver there seemed to be a lot of meth addicts who were more aggressive as far as begging was concerned and younger than the people on the streets in other places. Meth is a real problem and along the roadsides in the USA there are posters advertising rehabs and assistance. Being homeless in Seattle and Vancouver in the winter must be the pits. I felt really sad for them and gave them money from time to time but there is a person on nearly every corner in the downtown areas and my money just cant spread that far.

Seattle

Well, everyone must be thinking we never got out of Portland. This holidaying is hard work. I just haven't managed to get to somewhere and get the time to update the blog. We only spent 3 days in Portland before going to Seattle to visit our good friends Dan and Karlene.

Dan and Karlene made us so welcome in their home and with their extended family it was hard to leave. Dan took some time off work and showed us around Seattle and took us to Port Townsend where he grew up. Its the place where they made the movie an Officer and a Gentleman. Port Townsend had some magnificent Victorian Mansions and like every where we seem to have been, the scenery is stunning.

We visited the Arboretum where Karlene works which is really beautiful. If the Canberra Arboretum turns out like the one in Seattle it will be a real draw card.


Among other places we also went to Dan's favourite shop, the Aussie Pie Shop, where they claim to make real Aussie pies. They were pretty good pies, but they have been adapted for American tastes so there wasn't a steak and kidney in sight.

While we were in Seattle we bought a car. Its a Honda Civic LX 1994. Its registered for 12 months and we had no probs with getting insurance. So far it has been really reliable. We practised driving under Dan's tuition and have both got the hang of driving on the wrong side of the road although I have to admit that Alan is much better at it than me. I am OK on the highway but get confused in the traffic in the towns. I feel like a learner driver all over again.

We took a week out from Seattle to go to Canada to sort out our drivers licences because we lost them in a bag on a bus in LA. Unbelievably, the NSW Motor Registry are not satisfied with a Public Notary from America verifying your identity, even though it is far more rigorous than any Australian Post Office employee sighting your credentials (they even took our finger prints). We had to go to Vancouver to the nearest Australian Consulate to have an officer there do the same thing. I was highly pissed off by the bureaucratic bullshit gone made but the best thing was we got to see Vancouver.