Monday, May 26, 2008

May 26, 2008

Hi everyone,
We are currently in a KOA park at Glacier National Park. To our surprise, the Park is still closed due to heavy snow. As a result, we could only drive 9 miles into the park to Lake McDonald. As you see by the pictures below, it has been overcast and rainy. Also below, note the pictures taken in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where we were before coming to Glacier. There, they had the highest record of snow fall ever recorded this past winter. On top of that, they had the highest 4-day record of heat (90 deg.) just a few weeks ago. Add to that some heavy rain fall this last week, and what you get is over-flowing rivers, including the one next to our RV Park. In fact, as we left on Friday, the water had risen to cover the entrance road to the Park. (See picture below.) On the news yesterday, the TV station reporter interviewed the RV Park owner who said that over half of the Park was under water on this holiday weekend. Looks like we left just in time.
We are catching up on reading the books we brought along, including one we bought on impulse at Starbucks ("The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein) that we both totally enjoyed. Don't let the title fool you. If you are a dog lover, this is a must read. Speaking of dogs, Chanti is now doggy-boxed trained (like a cat litter box, except for dogs), so Jerry doesn't have to take her out on those cold and rainy mornings any more. This also gives us the opportunity to take longer sight-seeing tours away from the coach without worrying about having to get back to let her out. It's so cool!
Since Oregon, we have been eating a lot of fish (salmon, halibut, sea bass). Jerry has been perfecting his sea food dishes and has come up with some exciting creations.
Tomorrow we leave for Minot, North Dakota.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

UPDATE May 18, 2008

Hi Everyone -- We are in Lynden, WA for the last couple of days. Yesterday we visited the famous Bellingham farmer's market where we ate fresh crepes' made with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and more, including whipping cream. (Have we made you hungry yet?). Since we are planning to go to Alaska next year, we also visited the Bellingham Ferry (where we could cruise to Anchorage with the RV on the ferry and then explore Alaska as we take our time driving back to the states).
Today, we took our Enterprise rental car (PT Cruiser convertible) to Vancouver, British Columbia. What an absolutely beautiful city! We were there some 20 years ago and it was an experience to go back. See pictures below.
We leave tomorrow for Coeur d'Alene, ID and then on to Glacier National Park for Memorial Day Weekend. Hope all is well with each of you. We miss you. You are welcome to e-mail us at any time. We love staying in touch with you as we tour America.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Update May 16,2008

Hi Everyone,
Sorry we haven't updated this blog for awhile, but a number of places we stayed at were located in beautiful remote settings wtih "dead zones" for internet, cell phones and even DirecTv. On top of that, it rained a lot -- thus, we don't have many pictures of the places we stayed.
After visiting Jerry's sister and family in Grants Pass, OR, we traveled up the Oregon and Washington coasts. We went to Portland for one day to visit with our former neighbors in Playa del Rey (see photo below). In Port Angeles, we visited with Jerry's long-lost second cousin and his family (again, see photo below). Jerry had not seen him since the '60s.
We have just arrived at the KOA in Lynden, WA -- a few miles outside of Bellingham. To get from Port Angeles and across Puget Sound, we had to take a ferry from Kingston to Edmonds. It was a half hour trip on the sea. When we were directed to drive the RV on the boat, Mary took video of us loading the coach on to the ferry. Just as we parked the RV, a port security guard knocked on our door. He said: "we noticed that you were using a video camera. I have to see what you taped." He indicated that, for security reasons, they don't want any video taken of the inside of the vessel that could be used by terrorists. Jerry showed him the video, and he said "you can't keep that." He asked us to please erase it now. Big problem!! We just bought the camera and hadn't erased anything yet. When we told him we didn't know how to erase it, he asked to see our ID. We showed him our passports and he let us go, but said "no more tourist pictures down below...please."

Sunday, May 4, 2008

It all starts here

With the start of this Blog, we are starting with the beginning of our trip. The next time we post, we will put the most recent photos first and you can scroll down to see the past places, events and people.