On the ferry

We started out the morning thinking we would have no problem catching the ferry. Lucy, our GPS, had other ideas. The first route she wanted to take us went over to the east side of Washington state. Then, the next try, she took us out to the coast before going bsck over to i5 and the Tswassen ferry terminal. Even after we crossed the border she wanted to take us somewhere else with a time of arrival at close to 11 pm. Finally about 3k after the border she gave up and gave us the right route (we saved 5 hours in two minutes).

We arrived at the terminal at 5:45 quite confident that we were on the seven. The cashier told us our lane and said "hurry". They put us on the six o'clock ferry right at the back because they needed the weight.

So home very soon.

Things We Saw On This Loop

We are getting close to home on this loop and it seems like a good time to talk about a few of the things we saw and did on this loop.

We traveled with our friend Don for the first part of the loop. We stopped by the Sea Lion Caves in Oregon and we toured a bit in San Francisco where we visited with Mandell the first time. We left Don in Phoenix and we headed across the country and visited with Ken and Nancy in Texas (we had snow there). We went to New Orleans just before Mardi Gras. I went to the Navy Air museum in Pensacola and then we visited with my Aunt Mary and cousin Mary Lou in St. Petersburg.

We headed north and went to the Kennedy Space Centre and Savannah, Georgia. We then headed to Kitty Hawk and the Outer Banks and the Wright Brothers Museum (we want to go back here). After a quick trip up to Delaware and New Jersey, we saw AirForce 1 taking off and Kathie twittered that and we were followed by black SUV's for the rest of the trip. We headed across Tennessee, Arkansas and back into Texas (with black SUV's in tow) stopping in at Biltmore (the largest house in America), Cooter's Dukes of Hazzard museum (best deal ever) and Graceland along the way.

We drove parts of Route 66 in Texas, Arizona and California. We didn't see any aliens in Roswell (I may have but no one else believes me) but we did see some spring training ball games in Phoenix and went back to San Francisco and visited with Mandell and then we went to Chico and visited with a Irish Water Spaniel breeder.

We watched a semi blow a motor going up Pacheco Pass and watched another semi driver in Florida who could not keep it in his lane or lanes. We were following a semi that blew a tire and shed pieces of it all around us, he pulled over but passed us again a short time later still shedding parts of the tire.

We watched for tornados that didn't develop and then we were horrified as areas we had just left got blasted by tornados (but no hurricanes this loop).

We paid $5.20 for a gallon of diesel in California and the same day paid $4.04 in Arizona. The cost of fuel in the rest of California is around $4.40.

Hills Again

We are back into the hills today.  Lots of up and down (Paul even had to shift).  The highest point was 4130 ft but there were quite a few smaller summits along the way.  There was some wind between Weed and Yreka but we seemed to do fine.  There was snow on the mountains almost as low as we were and, at one point, the rain was getting rather "thick".  So we decided to get far enough out of the mountains to avoid any possibility of snow and we stopped in Eugene Oregon.

Visiting Dogs & Heading Home

Happy Anniversary to us!! It's number 19 or 22 depending on how you count.

We left San Francisco in a downpour today. The road was rough and the traffic was very busy and it wasn't even rush hour. We drove over to highway 99 where the traffic thinned out and the highway was smooth.

We are headed home for a few weeks and on our way we took advantage of our location and visited with the Irish Water Spaniel breeder Madra Fliuch (Lee, Robert was working) to check out the dogs in a home environment. We first saw them at the dog show in San Francisco earlier this year. A dog show is a great place to see the dogs and meet the breeders but seeing them at home is even better.

We had a great time. We took the dogs into the back yard and played fetch with them. Below there are a few pictures. The green stuff you see in their coats are burrs.

We had a great visit and we are looking forward to seeing them again.

Tomorrow we will head up I5 for as long as I can drive (and James can sit in the back seat and Kathie can just sit).

Drunk Computers Can Work

So we let the computer sober up / dry out and it is now working.

Wifi and beer

The place we are staying at doesn't provide wifi and James had some Chemistry video to watch.  So we (James and I) walked down to the local Starbucks this morning and had coffee/soy hot chocolate and worked on the computers.  Paul stayed at the campsite and puttered doing stuff that needed to be done.

So where does the beer come in.  Well, I talk with my hands - apparently even when no one else is around.  I tipped my beer glass over (and I'd only had about 4 sips) and it spilled beer onto Paul's computer.  So we are waiting until it dries out and hoping it works tomorrow.  Otherwise, it will have to get repaired in Victoria.  This is why we travel we extra backup drives!!

Easter and visiting

After spending a pretty lazy morning not doing too much of anything, we spent the afternoon doing the same.

We visited with Mandell and had an Easter ham that Paul cooked on the BBQ. After Mandell went home on the Bart we semi-planned the trip home and just relaxed.

Tomorrow the plans are more relaxing and puttering before we take off on Tuesday. Mandell has to work. No long weekend here in the US for Easter.

San Francisco Again

Wow, looking back, we have been a long way since we were last in SF seeing Mandell. It was great to see him and visit today and we are looking forward to more of the same tomorrow.

Another nice drive

Today we followed Highway 99 and 152 into Morgan Hill, CA.  It was a nicer drive than yesterday (no wind) and lots of grass and hills through Pacheco Pass.

As it is a long weekend and spring, there are actually families camping.  Children running around.  This is definitely different from what we have been seeing the last couple of months in the "migrant villages" of RV parks (definition from a California gentlemen we met this morning).

It was sunny and fairly warm today - but it was a jeans day, not a shorts day.  We are definitely getting more north now.  Sigh.  Oh well, summer is just around the corner.

Bakersfield

Last night we drove from Needles to Bakersfield.  The first part of the drive was beautiful.  Driving through the Mojave in the high mountains, the scenery was gorgeous.  By the end of the drive we were seeing green grass - so James was happy, but I was sad to be leaving the desert.

Paul drove into a headwind all day but the trailer handled well.  Today we are moving on to Morgan Hill and tomorrow San Francisco to see Mandell again.

Route 66, California and Arizona

I took some time today to drive some of the Historic Route 66 in the area. Route 66 was the first highway to traverse the US. It went form LA to Chicago. It went through many small towns and was called "The Main Street of America".

The first part I drove today was through downtown Needles, California. It was the main street of Needles was not very scenic.

I followed the old highway up to Oatman, a small mining town in Arizona. The drive was spectacular, scenic and desolate. Below is a picture of the highway with the mountains in the background.

Oatman is an old mining town and Route 66 went right through the middle of the town which is in a tight valley. They have wild burros there. They also cater to the tourists with gunfights a noon and bunches of tourist shops. I don't know where all the people and cars came from because there were very few cars on the road I drove.

I continued past Oatman up to the summit of the pass. The road was very narrow, in places it was not wide enough for two full sized pick-ups to pass each other. There was no guardrail and the drop was more 100 feet.

I then drove to Bullhead City on a gravel road through a valley that had black rocks strewn all over it.

So another great day, warm and sunny.

Nothing

Today we drove from Phoenix Arizona to Needles California. The drive was great. Highway 93 is a 2 lane highway, with parts that are 4 lanes. The road is scenic rolling hills. The terrain and vegetation changes at various elevations. At first it looked like a saguaro cactus forest and as we got higher they disappeared and shrubs took their place. As we continued down the road we ended up driving through the Joshua Tree National Park and a forest of Joshua Trees.

We also drove through Nothing, Arizona - I took a picture - the population is listed as 4 but I think they have moved away.

We stopped for lunch just west of Kingman, Arizona and I took this panorama. It is about 15 pictures taken with my wide angle.

A few weeks ago we were at Biltmore. As you are following the route through they catch you at a narrow point in the hallway and take your picture. At the end of the tour they offer you the pictures. The basic package deal is $35 and one photo is $25. They also offer a digital copy of the image. We chose that option (you can tell I didn't take the picture because there are people in it).

So here we are.

The weather has been terrific. It was a bit windy the last two days in Phoenix, but the wind has died down and it is a very nice evening.

Old Guys Pitching - New Friends

We went to the last Spring Training game here for the Mariners today. The starters were 25 year old Felix Hernadez and 49 year old (and Kathie's favourite) Jamie Moyer. The first picture shows Jamie throwing a fast ball.

Here is Felix winding up.

Seattle won again - I hope they can keep this up during the regular season when it counts.

We have new neighbours in the campsite. Nico and Miep are from the Netherlands and they have traveled extensively throughout North America. They have hit all 50 states, 10 provinces and 2 territories. They are also blogging their trip but it is in Dutch but you can read it here Nico and Miep's Site. They have lots of pictures from their trips all over the world.

BallGames

We spent last night and this afternoon watching the Seattle Mariners play in pre-season games. Their last pre-season game here is tomorrow and then they move to play in the big stadiums and the season starts again on Friday - they played a couple of "regular season" games in Japan earlier this week.

I took the camera today and took some pictures of the game. A foul ball hit the wall 2 seats to our right - tomorrow I'm taking my ball glove instead of the camera - it will offer more protection.

Here is Ichiro scoring the first run of the game for the Mariners. The throw from the outfield has been cut-off and they are trying to get the runner at 2nd.

Here is a pick-off attempt at first base.

Here is Brandon League who is one of my favourite relievers.

Stealing 3rd. Here is a sequence of pictures of a steal of third. (There are more pictures in the sequence but I am limited as to how many I can upload to the blog.)

In the first picture you can see the runner start the slide. You can also see the umpire at the far right of the picture. The ball is in the air near the 3rd baseman's glove.

The runner is now sliding and the 3rd baseman is about to catch the ball.

The 3rd baseman has caught the ball, blocked the bag and tagged the runner. The runner's helmet has come off and can be seen behind the left leg of the 3rd baseman.

The 3rd baseman shows he has the ball, the runner's helmet is bouncing away and the umpire gives his judgement from 75 feet way - "SAFE". Oh well.

The Mariners scored 6 runs in the 6th and won 6 to 4 over the Kansas City Royals.

It was windy today and it really cooled off.