Sunday 29 September 2013

D & B: Live from California

We have recently learned that Debbie has tired of camping in the rain. Enough huddling in the Mantis Tarp, damp and clammy sleeping bags, and going to bed at 8:15 because it is too wet for a fire and the sun is long down. We have truly earned our stalwart, hardy camper badges by now. Hence we are snug in a somewhat sketchy Motel 6 in Arcata, CA (Humboldt Co); it is pouring rain outside and we are dry and "connected".

The rain we last wrote about, in Tillamook OR, never really let up. As a result we never made it to Olympic City, or Mt. St. Helens. We just kept driving until we hit Portland. We stayed 3 nights at the lovely Northwest Hostel - and thoroughly enjoyed both the city and the hostel's amenities. Portland - beautiful, funky and easy to walk. We did a lot of walking, took in a farmer's market and free concert, sampled some beer and espresso. One highlight was watching the annual, 3 week long roosting of chimney swifts as they migrate south. At dusk people park themselves on one of the NW school lawns as if ready to watch a fireworks display. Audubon volunteers are there to answer questions. The swifts show up in the thousands close to dusk and start to circle this old, brick, chimney for about 30 minutes. Then, to cheers and applause, they slowly start to enter the chimney. Lots need to get in - so they circle, and circle, each time some birds making their way in for the night. Amazing.

We bought waterproof boots and a tablet, and had some great chats with fellow hostellers. This is a place with lots to offer, and there are a few things I still would love to see.



 
 
 

From Portland we did what Bar was very committed to - driving the Oregon Coast. Often cloudy and wet, its was varied, rugged and beautiful. We camped at Cape Lookout, Humbug Mountain, and Harris Beach and hiked whenever we could (putting those new water-proof boots to the test - and they passed). We spend a glorious night (with a bath tub) in  motel in Florence eating take-out pizza and drinking red wine, reveling in the "indoor" experience. We have seen some incredible beaches, stunning rocky shores, and lots of dunes.









Which all lead us to the northern Coastal Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens). To walk among these trees, noted for their height more than their girth, was truly magical. No words or photos will ever really do them justice. It is a spiritual experience to stand among such giants, old beings that remain because of the foresight of early 1900's environmentalists. As one ponders their magnificence I find myself also reflecting on how few of them are left. One can't help but be grateful that there are people around the world who stand up for the environment, banding together to save our natural resources. Only 5% of the Coastal old-growth Redwoods remain; a reminder of our culture of consumption.






Kyle and Hana deserve special mention. We met these two "youngsters" at a quick Lube in Brookings OR and had a good chat. Two nights later, in Redwoods they pulled into the campsite beside us. Barry (ever community minded) invited them to join  us around the campfire. We had a great time chatting until 11:30 - some drinking a bit too much beer. The next night they camped on our site with us, which saved each of us about 13 bucks, and split our wood costs in half. They are travelling down the coast, through the canyon lands, and ultimately to Ontario. We wish them well, and hope to see them again somewhere. We've met some fabulous young people on this adventure; a lot of the older folks are holed up in their RVs at night.
I love these banana slugs. Hana did too.
 




Sunday 22 September 2013

More photos - WA and OR

Holed up in the Starbucks in Tillamook, OR, sitting out the rain. We were camped two nights at Cape Lookout - huge Pacific surf, fabulous hiking to the end of the Cape (muddy though), but also wet and rainy. We are soon to head south on HWY 101 - the shore road. Not sure where we will end up or sleep, but hoping for a dry yurt at a state park. Our merino wool and rubber boots have seen a lot of wear. It is amazing how many days Barry can get out of a single T-shirt, that also doubles as sleeping wear.

More practice uploading photos, from the new laptop:

Ruth and I at Government House, Victoria.

Emily Carr in her caravan called the "Elephant" - from Victoria Art Gallery

 

Sidewalk art - Portland

Hurricane Ridge - Olympic Nat Park, WA

 




Says it all - the beach photos above are from Ruby Beach on the west coast of the Olympic Peninsula, WA. How could we pass this one by?

View from Cape Lookout north.
Thankfully - some patchy sunshine made for a great beach walk. I put on flip-flops for the first time in days.

Cape Lookout - yup, misty and rainy.
 

Photo update - practice!

Columbia River Gorge, east of Portland.

Trillium Lake with Mount Hood in the background (Oregon). We camped here two nights; it was quiet, sunny and very cold at night.

We bought a new, cheap laptop in Portland that also has a camera. I was able to upload these 2 photos really fast and easy directly from my hardrive. Now we will experiment with storing photos either in Dropbox or Skydrive - we are getting closer.

 

Tuesday 17 September 2013

From Portland with love

Where to start? First let it be said that things are not exactly as we may have imagined before we left (no surprise really, and not bad either). For example, we really thought we'd have easy, ready internet access, but that has been harder to find than we thought. Our laptop is very slow and it is hard to post photos. Both contribute to us blogging less than we predicted.

We've had some amazing adventures, great weather, and been treated to some incredible hospitality. We spent 4 glorious, sunny days in Victoria touring the beautiful city. In an act of incredible generosity my old highschool cheerleading chum Patty suggested we camp in her backyard. One thing we are learning is "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" so we took her up on the offer. We had not seen each other for almost 40 years! She and her family graciously shared their space with us for 3 nights and we had a chance to get to know each other again. How surprised we were to walk into her house and see 2 Martin guitars on the wall, a jam space in the basement and a CD/record collection that would make all my music loving friends drool. We had a great music connection with Patty's husband Sean who plays a mean guitar in a band called "The Bald Eagles", and had a lot of fun swapping stories and jamming the night away. We are forever grateful. We spent 2 days and a night with our old friend from Guelph, Ruth. We took in the Emily Carr exhibit at the art gallery together(just fantastic) and spent a fair bit of time simply wandering the streets, Ruth sharing her knowledge of Victoria history. We go way back with Ruth and it was a delight to reconnect in her exceedingly sweet James Bay "strata".
 
 
 
 


We spent a few days in the Washington peninsula, specifically at Olympic National Park, which has 3 distinct zones/areas (alpine, ranforest, and coast). We hiked in sun at Hurricane Ridge amidst spectacular mountain vistas and spontaneoulsy drove to the west coast so that we could visit Ruby Beach. We camped in the damp Pacific Ocean mist that bathes the big trees in constant moisture (and gave thanks for the fact that it was not raining - apparently the area gets 12 feet of rain per year).

 
 

We are now in the incredible city of Portland and it is living up to its reputation. Beautiful architecture, funky, clean and unpretentious. The street food is amazing and there is no sales tax on goods (new laptop?). We are in a cosy hostel with fantastic ameninities, lapping up hot water, fresh coffee, a big soft bed and lots of space. Our big question this morning is - shall we stay another day? There is just so much to do here, plus some business to catch up on. This city, in particular, is very vibrant and it is fantastic to be part of.

We are learning. The transition from camping, empty beach, and the calmness of nature, to big city throws us both for a loop, initially. We've learned to take our time in a city and do a lot of walking. We are starting to think in terms of chasing the weather, instead of the location (which is why we are here now when we thought we would be at Mt. St. Helen's). We are appreciating in a whole new way what the term "rainforest" implies. We've learned that even though this entire coast is lined with forest, different forests are unique - they truly have their own character and feel. We have marveled at the INCREDIBLE abundance of the sea and its ability to truly support communities. We've learned that there is quite a thrill to packing up the car and heading somewhere new even though the unknown can ruffle our feathers a bit. We've learned that if an opportunity presents itself (as in a shower or an exceedingly rare bathtub) one should snatch it up because we really don't know what's ahead. We've learned that even though we love hostelling in cities, we also love getting back to our tent. We've learned that we are good travel mates, even though we sometimes butt up against each other like driftwood being bashed by the surf (and we've seen a LOT of driftwood - BIG driftwood). We've learned that even when we are feeling a little homesick (this was totally triggered in both of us when we crossed into the states) we still want to keep going - together.
 

Wednesday 4 September 2013

Catching up in Nanaimo

Anti-Enbridge sentiment - Old Massett, haida Gwaii. We saw MANY signs protesting the potential increase in oil tankers that would pass HG if the pipeline (starting in Prince Rupert) goes through. The issue is the increased potential for oil spills and subsequent damage to the local marine ecosystem which is a huge source of food on the island.
Ultra-cute little jam cottage built out of a hollowed out tree stump near Tlell, HG.
Sign in the tree stump jam house
Haida Heritage Centre - great museum and lots of summer cultural events
Tailgate lunch at Rennell Sound, HG 
Singing and dancing - 5th anniversary of Haida Heritage Centre
First dancer - helps to clear the space energetically. There is also eagle down in his headress. The dancer will tilt his head and send clouds of the down into the audience. If soe lands on you it brings good luck.
Describing the patterns on the button robes worn by the women singers/dancers
Ferry - Skidegate to Port Rupert
Humpback whale breaching - there were 2 and they played for about 10 minutes.
15 hour ferry ride, Prince Rupert to Port Hardy on the northern-most tip of Vancouver Isl.


Bar and a whale skeleton at the tiny whale museum at Telegraph Cove


Heron Guesthouse and Hostel - Heriot Bay, Quadra Island. This funky place, and its welcoming proprietress, sheltered us from a heavy rainfall and rare thunder storm.
Car trouble has caused us to detour into Nanaimo on our way to the west coast. A couple of days of good weather has allowed us to explore the City and hang out at a downtown hostel which has also made time to catch up on posting photos...which tends to be a slow process for our aged laptop. Here goes....