Vancouver, BC

We drove across the border on Saturday, June 6^th into Canada with little delay. We arrived at the Capilano River RV Park in West Vancouver for a 4-night stay to do some sightseeing and relax a little. The RV park was centrally located and only across the Lions Gate bridge from Stanley Park (a 1,000 acre city park).  The RV park was also within walking distance of the trendy Park Royal Mall.

Monday we drove through Stanley Park into downtown Vancouver and had lunch in Chinatown. After lunch we drove through the Crosstown, Gastown and Historic districts before returning to Stanley Park.

Downtown Vancouver

Downtown Vancouver

View looking West from Stanley Park
 

Lions Gate Bridge looking North towards West Vancouver

We will leave Vancouver tomorrow and head up along the famous Fraser River Canyon to Clinton and 70-Mile House, BC.   

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Tillamook to Vancouver, BC

On Thursday, June 4^th, we left Cape Lookout State Park and drove to Gig Harbor, WA. Before we left Oregon, we stopped in Cannon Beach to see Haystack Rock and snap a few photos. It was early and the parking lots were empty so we had no problem parking the RVs.

We got all settled in at the Gig Harbor RV Resort, ran a few errands, and then enjoyed the rest of the afternoon and evening. On Friday, we drove the truck to Bremerton and took the ferry to Seattle as foot passengers. We had another awesome weather day with sunshine and temps in the upper-70s.  

We walked from the ferry to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park museum in the Pioneer Square district. It was Vince & Lisa’s first visit there and they thoroughly enjoyed it. Although it was our third visit, we always learn something new about the gold rush.

Next we walked several blocks up to Pike Place Public Market for lunch. The fresh fish market is always fun to see. Outside the market, we walked past the very first Starbucks.

We walked back to the historic Pioneer Square district to take the “Seattle Underground Tour”, a guided underground walking tour beneath Seattle’s sidewalks and streets. The underground level we walked through were three blocks of Seattle’s original downtown streets and storefronts. It was interesting to hear about Seattle’s history dating back to the late-1800s.

After the tour, we enjoyed a beverage at a local Irish Pub and walked back to the ferry terminal to wait for the next ferry to Bremerton. We enjoyed a nice view of the Seattle skyline in the distance on our way back to Bremerton.

On Saturday, June 6^th, we left Gig Harbor, WA and drove north to cross the border into Canada and headed to Vancouver for a 4-night stay.

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Reedsport to Tillamook

On June 2^nd we had a short 80-mile drive from Reedsport to Newport in the rain. We arrived at the Port of Newport Marina & RV Park a little after noon. We walked a few blocks to the Fishtails Café for lunch. Then we walked to and spent a couple of hours visiting the Oregon Coast Aquarium. The highlight of our stay in Newport was walking across the parking lot from our RV to the Rogue Brewery Pub, where we sampled several beers and enjoyed dinner.

 

 

We drove another short distance on June 3^rd from Newport to Tillamook. We overnighted at the Cape Lookout State Park, right on the beach south of Tillamook. We drove into Tillamook and toured the Tillamook County Creamery, where Tillamook cheese, ice cream, and other dairy products are made. We enjoyed the free cheese samples and each bought a scoop of Tillamook ice cream.

 

Tomorrow we go farther north up U.S. 101 to Astoria, before turning east towards I-5, then head north towards Seattle. We’ve got reservations for 2-nights at the Gig Harbor RV Resort. We plan to take the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle on Friday to do some sightseeing.

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Burns to Reedsport

We had an enjoyable drive from Burns to Crater Lake National Park. It was high on our “bucket lists” as none of us had ever been there before. It was well worth the trip up a narrow, winding road with switchbacks to get to Rim Village on the southwest corner of the lake. We walked to the view point on the edge of the lake and took pictures. Then we had a nice picnic lunch before leaving.

 

We drove on towards Medford and stayed at Valley of the Rogue State Park right on the Rogue River. It was an awesome spring day with sunshine and temperatures in the low-80s. Vince, Lisa and Julie walked down to the river to go swimming, but the water was too swift and very cold. Instead, we sat at the picnic table and played several games of “Sequence.”

On Monday, June 1^st we drove to William M. Tugman State Park, north of Coos Bay, Oregon. After getting set up, we drove the truck into Reedsport for lunch at the Harbor Light Restaurant. It got glowing reviews on Trip Advisor and we were impressed too. We all had fresh seafood and it was outstanding. We saved room for dessert and had the Marion berry crisp ala mode. Vince enjoyed a slice of carrot cake.

After lunch we visited the Umpqua River Lighthouse, in operation since the late-1800s, near Winchester Bay. The lighthouse grounds also included a whale-watching platform, but it was raining and foggy so we couldn’t see any great distance out in the Pacific Ocean.

 

Tomorrow we head north up U.S. 101 to Newport, just 72-miles away and overnight at the “Port of Newport Marina & RV Park” where we’ll visit an aquarium and the Rogue Brew Pub. We planned to stay at this RV park because the Rogue brewery is within walking distance across the parking lot.

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Boise to Burns

The trip from Pocatello to Boise on May 29^th was very scenic. The highway followed the Oregon Trail along the Snake River. We were surprised how pretty the Snake River was winding its way through canyons and across valleys. The surrounding mountains and hills were desert, but in the valleys there were many farms and ranches.

We enjoyed our overnight in Boise. We went out for dinner at nearby Edge Brewing Company, which was highly rated on Trip Advisor. The beer and food was very good. We shared some Snake Bites and a Scottish Edge (a hard-boiled egg wrapped in pork sausage). We enjoyed beer cheese soup and I had a “Grown Up Grilled Cheese” sandwich (an amazing combination of smoked gouda, Swiss, seasoned cream cheese and blue cheese melted on grilled buttery sourdough with roma tomatoes, roasted garlic and avocado). It was really yummy.
After dinner, we sat outside at the picnic table and played a new card game called “Sequence”. It was a warm beautiful evening, but our DWs (darling wives) beat us 6 games out of the 11 we played.

We arrived at LaPine State Park for two nights, just south of Burns, Oregon. It’s a nice park with full hookups and set in the tall pine trees along the Deschutes River.

On Saturday, May 30^th, we had lunch in Burns, and then drove to the High Desert Museum. The high desert included parts of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, all west of the Rockies.  It was quite interesting with sections on the history of the pioneers, Native Americans, and the wildlife. Then we made a quick visit to the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

 

Tomorrow we head south and west to Medford, after stopping by Crater Lake National Park on the way.    

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Wyoming and Idaho

The four of us left Boyd Lake State park on Tuesday morning, May 26^th, and headed up the road towards Rock Springs, Wyoming.

 

We stopped for lunch at a rest area along I-80 and enjoyed partly cloudy skies. There was plenty of snow on the nearby mountains, but they were shrouded in clouds.

We arrived In Rock Springs and celebrated Day 1 of our Alaskan adventure with grilled steaks, in spite of more rain showers and a muddy KOA campground.

Today we began the day with bright sunshine and a stop in Green River at Penny’s Diner for breakfast. We headed west on I-80 a short distance before turning north on highway U.S. 30 for about 200-miles before connecting with I-15 and driving 30-miles to Pocatello, Idaho. None of us had ever traveled this route on U.S. 30 before and it was beautiful. There were wide valleys, rolling hills and everything was green with the recent spring rains. This short-cut, avoiding the Wasatch Mountains and Ogden, Utah traffic, was well worth the trip.

Tomorrow we head west to Boise for an overnight, before going on to Oregon.   

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Cloudy, Cold, Rainy Colorado

After spending the winter and early-spring going east and west along I-10, from Florida to California, we ended up in Las Cruces, New Mexico on April 29^th. We got on I-25 for the first time since September, seven months ago, and headed north to Albuquerque to spend a week. We visited some very good friends there, before heading north again on I-25 for Colorado.

We arrived at Cheyenne Mountain State Park in Colorado Springs on May 8^th for a 12-night stay. It was nice coming back to Colorado Springs to visit family and friends and to take care of doctor and dentist appointments.

However, the weather has been atypical Colorado spring weather. What happened to their 300+ days of annual sunshine? It rained, or was foggy or misting nearly every day in Colorado Springs. We only saw Pikes Peak and the sun one day. Thank goodness we missed the hail storms they had the week before our arrival.

   

We’re spending the Memorial Day weekend at Boyd Lake in Loveland, Colorado. On Tuesday, May 26^th, we depart on a 3-month long trip to Alaska with our friends Vince & Lisa. We’ve been planning and anticipating this Alaska road trip for a couple of years, as they retired last October, and it’s their first big retirement road trip.    

Steve & Julie Cornelius