Canada at last!

We finally made it across the border with no real issues, except my learning that the information in my owner manuals was incorrect. When we were in Yakima and I told Rocky, Annie’s hubby, that my coach had a 100-gallon fuel tank, he was surprised. He and Annie have similarly sized Providence that is a year older than ours, but they only have a 90-gallon fuel tank. Well, I pushed the distance a bit, assuming the extra 10 gallons in the tank would get me to the next fuel stop. To deal with the anger of the Woman, I at least have a few pieces of new information. My manual is wrong – based on the 5 gallons I had to drive 10 miles into town to buy (I caught the only hardware store in town as it was closing and bought a fuel can) and the 85 gallons I bought after hauling the can back to the Woman waiting patiently with Colectiva, and then using a funnel to get most of the diesel into the tank, I can actually confirm I have 90-gallon tank. I also learned that when you run out of fuel, the “check engine” light comes on, just before the engine dies. Finally, I learned that even though you drain the fuel line that way, it’s not hard to restart the engine once you have added fuel – thank goodness!

We’re starting our way North following the gorgeous valleys of the Canadian Rockies. Chilliwack was an old supply point to the gold miners that were heading North to make their fortunes. We learned that while the Alaskan gold rush began in earnest in 1849, it really didn’t hit the Canadian Rockies until some 20 years later. We started hitting the British Columbia provincial parks outside Chilliwack, hitting both Cultus Lake and Chilliwack Lake Provincial Parks. You could easily spend the day hiking and taking in the scenery in any of these parks.

We’re learning that the Canadian Rockies are not unlike the North Cascades. The preponderance of glaciers in the high peaks means year-round water falling everywhere. For every waterfall we hike to, we see another 20 as we drive by. Luckily some of them have pullouts that we can get more than just a passing glance. Each waterfall we find is a keeper, and well worth whatever hike it takes to get to it.

We also found the Othello Tunnels. In the late 1800’s the Canadian Government was in an all-out flurry to finance the development of rail lines in the Canadian Rockies, just north of the US border. That was in order to make sure the wealth in the Canadian western provinces remained in Canada and did not get exploited by the hungry Americans. This series of tunnels built in the 1890’s helped assure that outcome, and now serves as a great hiking and biking destination.

Talk to you soon!

One more off the bucket list!

Cascades National Park was established October 2, 1968 and is celebrating its 50^th anniversary in a few months.

The area was preserved both because of its beauty, as well as because of its geological significance. From the aspect of beauty, this area is referred to as the American Alps. I have been to the Alps in Europe, and I can confirm that the North Cascade Range is every bit as high, rugged and stunning, earning it the nickname.

It turns out that in the early 1900’s that this area was able to generate reliable hydro electric power. Because the boundaries of the Park contain a third of all the glaciers in the lower 48 states (over 300 in all, which interestingly dwarfs the number in Glacier National Park), water cascades down the sides of these mountains even in the hot days of July and August, fed by the glacier melt.

In the early 1920’s, a series of dams was built along the glacier fueled Skagit River to provide all the power needed by the city of Seattle. If not for this essentially free source of limitless electricity Seattle may not have flourished as it did. We visited the Gorge Dam, the Diablo Dam and the Ross Dam, hiked to the dams, and checked out the hydroelectric facilities. The mist created by the waterflow over the dams produces what may be the best rainbows we have ever seen. 

Since the Pacific Crest Trail runs through Northeast of Seattle is the only National Park in the state of Washington we had never visited. North the center of the Park, the Woman wanted to hike a bit of it. Well, even though late in the month, it’s still May. So, when we finally found where the PCT was, it was under at least a dozen feet of snow. We actually had to dig out this PCT trail marker just to be able to prove we were here. No hiking was in the forecast for today.

Tomorrow we cross the border into Canada and begin our slog to Alaska!

Talk to you soon!

It's all about Amazon here!

When we got here we found the primary fulfillment facility for Amazon is directly across the street from the SeaTac KOA. As I was strolling around near Pike Place Market, I also found Amazon’s International Headquarters. I poked my head inside and learned that they actually conduct visitor tours on a daily basis. That was the good news. Then I went online to book a tour and learned that they discontinue tours in November and December due to the holiday package crunch. And, because of the high profile of Amazon and everybody wanting to check it out, all tours between now and the end of October are sold out! Oh well, maybe next time.

Talk to you soon!

New exposures

We think we’ll avoid Yakima Washington in the future – well, maybe. Although the Woman’s good friend Annie lives there, we were here last year when her dad died and we had to head back to Minnesota. While here again, Robin learned that her sister Diane’s husband Jim had passed away. We found a place to park Colectiva near SeaTac airport so Robin could head to Oradell NJ for the services, but being Memorial Day weekend, the coach had to be moved between spots. So, I hunkered down in Seattle to mind Colectiva and Kona, while Robin flew back to try to comfort her sister.

We explored rural Washington while near Yakima. We cruised through Rosalyn, the town where the 1990’s TV series Northern Exposure was filmed. The camel mural on Rosalyn’s Café showed up in many of the canned footage sequences of the town. Not having been a Northern Exposure devotee, we could neither confirm nor deny that.

In Kittitas County we found the barn quilts we had heard about. Apparently as early as reliable paint was available to the public, owners of barns began adorning them with quilt blocks, intended to look like their fabric counterparts. Apparently, there has been a resurgence of the practice of adorning barn structures with quilt blocks, and Kittitas County Washington has its share.

I had learned about such a quilt on Google and plugged it into our GPS, which expertly guided us there on our way to Rosalyn. Not having found any other barn quilts to guide us to, we only hoped that we might stumble on a few in the vacuity. Lo and behold, we actually drove by about a half dozen barn quilts on all kinds of structures, and all of them were fabulous. We will certainly have barn quilts in our search criteria from now on.

It’s hard not to get some pleasure out of a good sign. At the Dayville Mercantile, we spotted this sign as we stopped by to score a geocache hidden there. Their claim is very hard to dispute.

I also personally enjoyed this sign in the dog walk at the KOA in Seattle. The sign speaks for itself.

Killing some time, I headed into Seattle to old haunts. At the base of the Space Needle I looked up to see if any giant cockroaches were climbing it.

While there were none, there were so many folks in like to ascend that I decided I didn’t need to. I strolled most of the downtown but spent most of my time at the Pike Place Market. I saw many a fish being tossed to the cheering crowd, but elected not to try to catch one.

Talk to you soon!

It's all about the Snake River

We visited the Snake River before, but apparently never really explored it. In addition to all the fossils buried in the Snake River basin, the valley it has carved is simply gorgeous! We wandered along the rim of the Snake River Canyon and felt that it almost rivaled the Grand Canyon in beauty, if not sheer depth and size.

We visited Shoshone Falls, one of the many massive cascades on this wild and turbulent river. Unlike the Missouri, the Snake was apparently too wild to try to tame for large scale river transportation. Falls like these are one of the reasons.

We managed to find our way to the infamous Evel Knievel jump site. On September 8, 1974, daredevil Evel Knievel attempted a jump across the Snake River Canyon just outside Twin Falls Idaho. This elevated jump ramp was where he launched his ill fated failed attempt. Very shortly after he left the ramp, the landing parachute deployed, and the wind blew him back to the same side he jumped from. Being a big Knievel fan, I loved finding this.

We also found the rugged canyon section along the Malad River, a tributary of the Snake River. Just looking at it, you can understand why earlier settlers referred to as the Devils Hole. It’s craggy, deep, dark and completely foreboding. But, it was a great site to stumble on.

Talk to you soon!

Continuing North!

Heading North through Nevada we stumbled on Schellbourne Nevada. Schellbourne was one of the fast and furious stops where Pony Express riders changed horses during the 18-month period in which the Pony Express achieved timeless fame. While the structures have long blown away, the trail that the Pony Express riders is still visible.

While the Pony Express as a business model only lasted 18 months, it was replaced by stage coach lines that essentially used the same trails to get from East to West. Long after the end of the era of the Wells Fargo stagecoaches, the visionary Carl Fisher (GM’s body by Fisher fame) dreamed of a paved highway that would allow folk to travel at their own pace, a luxury not allowed by rail. His vision resulted in the Lincoln Highway, which was the first paved highway to connect New York with Sacramento. Interestingly, it followed the old Pony Express route.

We were able to score visits to two National Monuments that we had never been to before. In Idaho we visited Hagerman Fossil Bed National Monument. This area had been a tropical rain forest about 3.5 million years ago. The valley now known as the Snake River Valley was lush with vegetation and animal life. Volcanic mud flows created from eruptions of nearby volcanoes trapped dense fields of fossils, that began to be discovered in the 1700’s.

We learned a lot about the area and its inhabitants. Mostly now extinct, the area literally teemed with both plants and animals. I was fascinated to learn that cancer may not be just a manmade phenomenon caused by our polluting the environment. This 3.5-million-year-old beaver vertebra apparently shows clear signs of bone cancer – who’d a thunk it!

Further North in Washington we hit John Day Fossil Bed National Monument, outside the small town of Dayville. The fossils here are much older than at Hagerman – in the range of 5 million to 45 million years old. However, the story is similar. Rich, lush tropical rain forests covered the area, complete with dense plant and animal life, much like in the Snake River Valley. 

Today you would have no idea what this area was like back then. The upheaval of high mountain ranges to the West have eliminated the epoch old 100 inches of rain that this area would have received, now choking rainfall down to under 10 inches on average per year. The combination of volcanic eruptions and desert conditions result in what we see today – still beautiful, but harsh rather than lush.

Talk to you soon!

Heading North!

We got to cross a couple of items off the bucket list on our way North. We had been meaning to hit Basin and Range National Monument for a long time, but somehow never seemed to be in the vicinity. Managed by the BLM it has no real services. But it does have a treasure trove of ancient rock art. On the way to Ely we hit White River Narrows which has rock art galore.

We also found the usual historical but not ancient rock art. Employees of the railroads as well as those of the US Geological Survey would often mark the areas where ancient rock art was found. While this stuff is in essence graffiti, since it dates back to the late 1800’s or early 1900’s, park management considers it to be historically significant.

We also stumbled on the visitor center at Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge. Water in the Pahranagat Valley resulted in it being a haven for ancient agriculture. As Europeans moved into Nevada Territory, the lush environment most of the year drew them as well. Long before Vegas became Vegas this valley supported permanent settlements that have not been able to stand the test of time. 

When we finally got to Ely we discovered that the Silver State Classic Challenge had all the venues booked. The Challenge began in 1988 as a showcase for vintage racing cars. Today it draws serious racers from around the world. The Silver State Classic Challenge holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest car race, when in the 2017 race the fastest car was clocked over the entire 120-mile course at an average speed of 219.643 MPH – smoking!

We dined in style in Ely at the Jailhouse Steakhouse. In our own private cell, we were served a delicious 16 oz Ribeye with all the fixins. Luckily, we could leave when we were done by just paying the bill.

Talk to you soon!