Thursday, July 29th - The bear that greeted us upon aour arrival in Jasper reappeared on the morning of our departure. This time most folks were ready with cameras to capture the moment. Then, upon pulling out we saw an elk herd in the Miette River. The Miette is a calm river, at least at this point, and the elk - a dozen or more - were leisurely basking in the cool water.
Leaving Jasper via the Yellowhead Highay (#16) and heading west, it was no time before we crossed into British Columbia and more beautiful mountain scenery. Mount Robson is the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies at over 12,000 feet. It had it's snow capped peak hidden in the clouds as we stopped for breakfast in a cafe near the mountain's base. The restaurant owners must have thought they'd been invaded by silver clad aliens as the Airstreams crowded in. A walk over to the Visitor Center behind the cafe was rewarding. There were many pictures of the mountain and of those climbers who had braved its challenges.
Clocks and watches had to be reset to Pacific Time upon entering British Columbia. We were now three hours behind Eastern Standard Time back home. That also meant we had an extra hour to kill before arriving at our new campsite - the Dutch Lake RV Resort in Clearwater. At a rest area on the shady banks of the Thompson River we picniced and broke out the Joker board for a few games with the Larsons in that lovely setting. Then, we motored on in to Dutch Lake where everyone had full hookups for a change. It didn't take long to take advantage of the electricity and turn on the airconditioner. We were now down in the valley, and it was hot.
Clearwater is the nearest town to Wells Gray Provincial Park, a wilderness area with some amazing mountain lakes, crystal clear rivers, and waterfalls. Wells Gray includes a huge area in the Cariboo Mountains of British Columbia. Before exploring the park, however, there was another GAM and a meal together in the resort - a super meal on the deck of the resort dining room overlooking the lake. The meal was nothing fancy, but it was well prepared with good vegetables, rice, salmon, roast beef, and chicken.
Friday, July 30th - Mrs. Ida McKelvey is now 81 years old - widowed since we last saw her in 1991. She's been leading tours into Wells Gray Park for Maple Leaf caravaners since 1987. The caravan was divided into two groups with Mrs. McKelvey's daughter Tina leading the first group and Ida leading the second. We saw some extraordinary stuff. But first we went to the McKelvey home where she had laid out a table of goodies - homemade huckleberry muffins, fruit, strawberry tarts, sausage, crackers and coffee. She maintains a private museum of things she's collected from pioneers to this area of British Columbia - nothing fancy, but extensive and unique. Its all housed in an old log cabin with a patched up roof. She's quite a lady, and her daughter too. Tina is free-spirited and full of humor, talking a mile a minute.
After feasting on the goodies, we proceeded to Wells Gray Park for an all day excursion. There are few paved roads in the park, so we did a lot of driving on gravel with dust aflying. We stopped at five waterfalls, hiking anywhere from a few feet to maybe a half mile to see each of them. There was Spahats Falls, Dawson Falls, the Bailey Chute, and Mushbowl Falls. The most spectacular was Helmchen Falls. A mass of water comes thundering out of a crevice in the rock wall, then plunges down some 500 feet to the canyon floor where it hits with astounding force, sending spray almost as high as the canyon rim - awesome! We made two trips to Helmchen, the second an hour later to photograph the falls with the sun at a better angle.
We stopped at a picnic area for lunch at an overlook on the Clearwater River. It was a beautiful spot on the large river, so clear that pebbles could be seen on the bottom, even out in the middle. We saw no fish, but were told that salmon would be running there in just a few days. That would have been a sight!
The last stop on the tour was at an unmarked spot in the woods that Tina said was a fossil bed. Several folks found pieces of slate that contained imprints of leaves covered by layers of silt eons ago.
Back in Clearwater, we stopped by the Dairy Queen for a sandwich and icecream. The day ended with a drivers meeting to prepare for the next move. It was quite a day.
Saturday, July 31st - From Clearwater we followed the Thompson River on Route 5 to Kamloops, then Route 1 to Cache Creek, then south on Route 1 to Hope. Around Kamloops and Cache Creek, the countryside is hilly and dry, remindful of the desert in Arizona or New Mexico - lots of sage brush. Gradually, the river drops into its own canyon. By the time the Thompson River reaches the confluence with the Fraser, the gorge is deep and wide, and the river is full of rapids. Downstream from the confluence, the Fraser River Canyon is a monster. The highway runs along the east side of the canyon for about half the distance, then crosses a bridge and continues along the west side. The river is far below. The further south, the more mountainous and rugged the scenery grows, until the river reaches Hell's Gate. There the water gathers for a thundering run through a narrow channel at the bottom of the gorge. Beyond Hell's Gate the water becomes more serene, though the surrounding mountains have become huge.
The small town of Hope is noted for its chainsaw sculpture, mounted at strategic points around the town. The sculptures are of noted men, birds of prey, animals, etc., all finished to withstand the weather.
The caravan parked at a fairgrounds near the town of Agassiz. It was dry camping again, but a nice, convenient place. This was the longest driving day of the caravan - 270 miles - most of which was done at slow speeds on the curvy, steep road. So, everyone was tired and ready to relax for awhile. The drivers meeting was short and sweet in preparation for our move to the Vancouver area.
Sunday, August 1st - The short drive from Agassiz to Vancouver took a couple of hours - lots of red lights and a few wrong turns. The weather turned very nice. The campground in Richmond was a good one - not far from the Steveston fishing docks. Stevenston docks is reminiscent of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco with the swarms of people, musicians on the street, lots of restaurants and shops. We ate at Dave's Fish & Chips and had an excellent platter of halibut.
The campground was surrounded by blackberry bushes loaded with ripening berries. Naturally, it wasn't long before the caravaners were out with their buckets harvesting the crop.
Monday, August 2nd - Two chartered buses arrived at the campground this morning to take the caravaners on a tour of Vancouver. Our driver kept up a steady narrative about the area as we circled around through the city. We passed through Chinatown, Gastown, the statue of "gassy Jack," the old steam clock, the tour ship terminal, and the harbor. There were stops at the totem poles in Stanley Park, Prospect Point at the foot of the Lion's Gate bridge, and the Bloedel Observatory at Queen Elizabeth Park. The flowers were beautiful everywhere, though grassy lawns were mostly brown from an ongoing drought.
Vancouver is a modern, obviously prosperous city with a two million resident population in the greater area. Tourists provide a substantial increase to that number. Numerous new buildings were under construction as we toured around. A large percentage of the population is of Asian ancestry - mostly Chinese.
Stanley Park is a 1,000 acre park, full of both natural and cultivated beauty. Located to the north of the city, it is almost an island, connected to the mainland only by a narrow strip of land. The north end of the park is on a high bluff overlooking the main channel into Vancouver's harbor. Along the southern shoreline the tall buildings that make up the skyline of Vancouver are visible across the harbor. About 100 years ago, before the area was a park, it was clear cut of all timber, but one would never know that now. Huge Douglas firs and western red cedars that have grown back since now cover the area. Some of the stumps from the old timber harvest are still visible. Some, called nurse stumps, have new trees growing out of them. Cultivated gardens full of colorful flowers are abundant. Also abundant are the swarms of tourists speaking a variety of languages, predominantly Japanese. An array of totem poles that commemorate the native people adorn one section. Prospect Point is a spot where exclusive North Vancouver, wide beaches, the harbor, and the Lion's Gate Bridge are clearly visible. Lion's Gate Bridge resembles the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco and was designed by the same bridge architect.
Gastown is the oldest section of the city. It has now been renovated to include many sidewalk cafes and shops. The statue of "Gassy Jack" decorates one street corner. He was a colorful figure in Vancouver's history. Not far down the street from the statue is the old steam clock. Fed by the underground steam system, the clock runs off a small steam engine and whistles a signal each quarter hour.
Our tour bus driver claimed that Vancouver was ranked among the top places to live in the world, citing the beauty of the mountains, the seashore, clean air, few insects, good climate, low unemployment, low crime rate, among other reasons. We could attest to the clean air and lack of bugs. Few of the houses have screens on the windows.
The blackberry bushes surrounding the campground were loaded. I don't know how many have been picked by others, but our freezer is loaded with about three gallons. Joan Larson made a blackberry pie and brought it over in the evening. We enjoyed the pie while watching a Canadian Rockies video Jerry had purchased.
Tuesday, August 3rd - For the first time in many days, we awoke to rain. While it dampened sightseeing, it was a welcome curtailment to the dusty dryness. The rain made it a good day to do laundry. However, by 5:00pm the skies conveniently cleared for our bus ride back into town for a sunset dinner cruise around the Vancouver harbor. The boat, with 187 people aboard, pulled away for the harbor cruise right on time at 7:00pm, and by 7:30pm we were working the buffet table for a meal featuring salmon, roast beef, veggies, salad, rice, potatoes, then dessert. The upper deck was open for picture taking. Vancouver is even more impressive as seen from the water. The tall buildings just go on and on.
The 2 1/2 hour cruise that circled the peninsula that is Vancouver, first counterclockwise, then clockwise, arriving back at the dock promptly at 9:30pm. We went under the Lions Gate Bridge and around the huge bluff that is Stanley Park, then up the river for a full view of downtown Vancouver. By the return trip it was getting dark, and the lights were coming on for a beautiful finale. The cruise was probably one of those things we would never have done on our own, yet it was a pleasant excursion with our new friends and a great meal. By the time we arrived with the bus back at the campground it was nearly 10:30pm.
Wednesday, August 4th - This day started with a drivers meeting at Al and Gracie's trailer. They served Tim Horton doughnuts before going over instructions for boarding the ferry to Vancouver Island on Thursday. The meeting was shortened by more rain that continued in a soft drizzle all day. Then, near 5:00pm, the skies magicly cleared, and the sun came out. After the busy-ness of the last few days, we needed a day for R&R.
Thursday, August 5th - Up at 6:00am, all 34 units lined up for one of those rare times when the entire caravan moved together. This was necessary in order for all of us to get on one ferry and arrive at Nanaimo on Vancouver Island at the same time. Traffic was light at that time of morning, so we didn't cause tie-ups on the trip to the Tsawassen ferry docks. By 8:00am we were all loaded and pulling away. The ferry was large enough for all our 34 rigs plus a number of tractor trailers, a host of cars, and a number of walkons. It was a smooth ride to the island across the Strait of Georgia, taking about 1 3/4 hours. By 10:00am we were all off the ferry and on the road again. To give the parking crew time to get to Port Alberni and get organized, the rest of us pulled into a huge shoppiing mall parking lot in Nanaimo.
Nanaimo is a surprisingly large city of 77,000 permanent residents. They have several large shopping complexes. The one we were parked in temporarily sported a Super Walmart, a Home Depot, a Canadian Tire store, and a host of others inside the Woodgrove Mall. After killing an hour there we got back on the road for the rest of the trip to Port Alberni where our campsite had been readied at the local fairgrounds.
Port Alberni is a lumber mill town of about 17,000 residents - all friendly folks. The mayor greeted us at the senior center where a dinner and entertainment was provided by the members of the seniors club there. The dinner was a simple meal of salad, veggies and roast beef, and the entertainment was clogging, line dancing and a comedy skit. The mayor told us that the character of the town is changing. The lumber mill still is the dominant employer, but now only represents some 48 percent of the economy - the rest being tourism, fishing, and the retirement community. Located on the Alberni Inlet which runs all the way out to the ocean, the town is in an ideal spot for boating and sport fishing. The mountains are close by too, and the weather is mild most of the year. The biggest attraction though is the friendliness of the people. We were really given a warm welcome.
Friday, August 6th - The excursion for this day was a trip out with the M/V Lady Rose. The Lady is a working freight boat that delivers mail and supplies to the numerous families that live along the Alberni Inlet. By taking passengers the vessel adds to its income, but the main reason for its existence is the freight.
We boarded the Lady Rose at 7:30am in the rain for a ride down the Alberni Inlet to the little town of Bamfield - about 30 nautical miles. Despite the rain, it was an exhilarating trip. About half way down the inlet we saw the first bear. It was down at the waters edge turning over rocks, apparently looking for crabs or bugs. Another bear was spotted a little further down, then three together. I counted 16 bald eagles, some flying, but most perched on the highest branches of trees near the water.
The Lady Rose is an old vessel, having been built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1937. It crossed the Atlantic on its maiden voyage. Those sailors aboard encountered storms and highs seas, taking nine weeks for the trip, but they proved the Lady to be seaworthy. Thankfully, the Alberni Inlet is a smooth passage, and the Lady's rough sea traveling is over, but she is showing her age. She creaks and groans a bit. The hull may not leak, but the canvas shelter on the open deck does, as does the roof over the galley. Most of our folks were content to ride in the seat-outfitted cabin below, but a few braved the leaky shelter topside.
With occasional breaks in the rain came outstanding views of the mountains on both sides of the inlet. The way low clouds hung around the mountainsides added character to the sight. At the mouth of the inlet, there were hundreds of uninhabited islands - actually, mountain tops protruding from the sea - called the Broken Group Islands. The rainy weather didn't seem to discourage fishing boats. We saw many out trolling for salmon and others just exploring the islands.
We arrived in Bamfield about noon after making four or five stops to deliver and pickup stuff to and from the folks living in their isolated homes along the waterway. Apparently, the Lady Rose is the primary contact these folks have with the outside world. At times the Lady would pull in to a dock; at other times she'd just slow down, and a little boat would come out to her to pick up something.
Bamfield is in the heart of the Pacific Rim National Park. It was a bustling place when we were here 13 years ago, but time has not treated the town well. The one restaurant up on the hill where we ate lunch before has been closed for five years, and there was not much else open. There's not much there aside from a fleet of fishing boats and a Coast Gu\ard Station. We had an hour and a half to spend "in town" before starting the return trip. The rain had let up, so some 20 to 25 of us began walking a boardwalk that paralleled the waterfront. At one point the path led into a dense rain forest, then re-emerged to continue along the waterfront. After a half-mile, we came upon a little open air cafe called the Boardwalk Bistro. It was quickly obvious that our group was overwhelming the cook. Somehow they managed to feed us in time to retrace our steps to the boat, but it was close.
More eagles were spotted on the return trip, but no more bears. It was then high tide, and apparently the bears can only plunder for crustaceans when the tide is low. We arrived back at Port Alberni about 5:00pm after a full day on the water. It felt like we had been to a virgin area of the continent - wild and isolated. It was, for sure, an area found only by a few hardy souls. It's easy to see why someone would be fascinated with the place, but it would take a special personality to live there.
Saturday, August 7th - Promptly at 10:00am an old steam engine and train left the Port Alberni station with all caravaners aboard for a 35 minute ride to the old McLean lumber mill. The mill was a major employer for about 60 years before it closed down in 1965. The owners simply walked away, abandoning all their employees and all the equipment, never to return. It is now being renovated as an operating museum. That may not sound like an exciting tourist attraction, but a team of attractive teenagers lead guided tours, then put on a first rate song and dance act that brings the old mill to life. The excursion has become a popular summer attraction, to the extent that the train runs twice a day, and the kids do their show twice a day, five days a week. They serenaded the train as it was leaving for the trip back to Port Alberni.
Despite the warm welcome the caravaners got from the friendly folks of this city, an unfortunate event happened during the night. When we went out to the Saturn this morning, we discovered that the left rear fender had been bashed in - with a clear, muddy footprint in the center. We heard nothing during the night, but the folks in a neighboring trailer told of hearing a gang of rowdies come through about midnight, playing loud music Reporting the incident to the RCMP didn't bring any response, so we're left with a messy fender to get fixed. One bad apple can spoil the whole bushel, but even knowing that, we're not quite as pleased as before with the townfolk.
Sunday, August 8th - After an "in house" church service on the grounds we took advantage of the free day to do some exploring. There's a park alongside the Somass River almost in town across which we'd heard reports of bears coming down to the water to fish for salmon. That was our first stop, but we saw no sign.
About 10 miles out of town is the "Cathedral Grove" - a protected area of old growth trees. The trail meanders through a grove of Douglas firs, western red cedar, and hemlock that are awesome. The Douglas firs are huge, towering straight skyward a couple hundred feet. The park was aptly named. Almost blocked out, the sun only occasionally found its way through to the ground. There were a number of huge logs on the ground, many from a fairly recent storm that came through in 1997. Where the logs fell across the trail, a section of the tree had been sawed out, so we were able to walk the entire mile-long loop.
Once away from the road, we were awestruck by the almost total silence. We also walked a half-mile trail on the opposite side of the road that circled around near the end of a beautiful lake.
Five or six miles further along the road was Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park.
While pretty and unique, as all waterfalls are, these were rather tame compared to the others we'd seen on the trip. We walked another loop trail that crossed the river on a foot bridge near the lower falls, then followed a trail on the far side back upstream to the upper falls where another footbridge allowed us to cross back over and return to the parking lot. The trail was roughly 2 miles long, following the rim of the river gorge.
By now, we were all getting hungry. The map showed a little town less than 10 miles away, so we headed that way, hoping to at least find a place to get some ice cream. What we found was the Old Country Market at Coombs, an enormously popular spot both for tourists and local folks. It had a sod roof with goats grazing on it. At the restaurant we tried to eat lightly, anticipating a salmon dinner back at camp in the evening, but failed. It was too good. The aroma of fresh bread just out of the oven lured us on. Not only was the place a full scale bakery, but there were all sorts of fresh fruits and vegetables in the market, as well as an unbelievable array of ice cream varieties. The gift shop was full of jams, jellies, clothes, trinkets, and stuff, and people were swarming around like bees. It was after 3:00pm before we left there.
Back at camp there only a short time to rest before the salmon feast. The Kinsmen Club of Port Alberni (like the U.S. Kiwanis) put on a salmon dinner that was five points beyond fabulous. They've been doing that for every Airstream caravan that's come through since 1986. They kept serving salmon until everyone had all they could eat, and then some. There was also fresh corn on the cob dipped in melted butter, a baked potato with all the add-ons, salad, and a dessert. We ate on picnic tables right at the fairgrounds where we were parked.
Later in the evening there was more hooliganism. A pickup truck came into the fairgrounds with wheels spinning, deliberating showering rocks on the most exposed trailer. The police were again called, and this time they came. While there they surveyed our damage from two nights earlier.
Monday, August 9th - This was the day to move from Port Alberni to Victoria. Before leaving, I drove into town to the police station and managed to get a written police report of the vandalism, hoping to get some insurance help in replacing the dented fender. All the city officials by now had been informed of the trouble and were genuinely embarassed by it all. Arrangements were being made to close entrances to the camping area at night to protect the caravaners in the second section due this evening.
The route was a backtrack to Nainamo, then on south on TransCanada 1 to View Royal and the Fort Victoria RV Park. The caravaners welcomed full hookups for a change. We were camped less than ten miles from downtown Victoria. After settling in we drove into Victoria and walked the quay in front of the Empress Hotel and some of the shops. There were lots of people on the streets.
Later on we drove down to Sydney to get an idea of the route and time required to get to the ferry docks when we leave Saturday. Sydney is a clean little city on the waterfront with lots of boats in the marina. Sport and commercial fishing no doubt are its reason for being there.
Tuesday, August 10th - At 9:00am a double decker bus came to the campground to take us all on a tour of Victoria. We rode through some exclusive subdivisions that exuded wealth, then followed the seacoast to the downtown area - all to a continuous narration by the bus driver. Half the group rode upstairs on the trip in; the other half rode upstairs on the return trip back to the campground. We were back shortly after 11:00am.
We drove back into the downtown area in early evening to walk along the harbor quay. It's amazing to see the milling swarm of people. Artists have booths set up along the harbor wall; peddlers sell drinks, hot dogs, ice cream; Indians display trinkets for sale; mimes stand like statues until coins are dropped in their baskets, then go through mechanical movements; homeless vagrants beg and rifle through the garbage cans; harbor ferries, like toy boats in a bathtub, come and go from their tours of the harbor; a huge cruise ship resembling a sternwheel riverboat was discharging several hundred passengers at the harbor; horsedrawn and bicycle drawn carriages mingle in the traffic with double decker buses; at the Empress Hotel a line extended out the doors waiting for afternoon tea. The sun was bright and hot, and the flowers hanging on the streetlights were beautiful. Quite a place.
We walked through the Empress, and decided not to fight the lines for tea. Then, with the Larsons, walked across the street for dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory.
By the time we got back to the campground, we'd missed an ice cream social with the rest the caravan. We were too tired to care.
Wednesday, August 11th - This was the day for a visit to Butchart Gardens. This is a special year for the gardens - their 100th anniversary. To commemorate that, new displays have been created to showcase the history and development of the
gardens from the ugly, old limestone quarry to the beautiful place it is today. The gardens were begun in 1904 by Mrs. Butchart, the wife of a wealthy industrialist,
as a project to reclaim and beautify her husband's mined out rock quarry. The limestone mined from the quarry was used in the making of Portland cement. When the company was done with the quarry there was no fertile soil. Mrs. Butchart arranged for tons of topsoil to be hauled in from neighboring farms - hauled by a team of horses and a little wagon, one at a time.
Management is now in the fifth generation of the family. There are fifty acres of gardens and another fifty acres of greenhouses, roadways and parking lots. The profusion of flowers is so magnificent it is impossible to describe. It is a remarkable accomplishment and a good example of how ugliness can be turned into beauty if there's a will. The gardens employ 45 full time gardeners and a total of 450 people during peak season. If there were any flower varieties missing from the brilliant displays, it was not evident. Like every other attraction we've visited on this trip, there were crowds of people. Thinking of the $20.00 ticket price, the gardens are generating tons of money.
We ate lunch in the Blue Poppy Cafeteria, visited the gift shop, and left after a couple of hours in the gardens. On the way back to the campground, we stopped at a butterfly farm - the Victoria Butterfly Gardens. After Butchart, this was anti-climactic, but it was interesting. They had hundreds of butterflies with many different varieties. The gardens were inside a controlled environment along with fish pools, goldfish and koi, tropical plants, orchids, parrots, and ducks. The butterflies have a short life cycle - about six weeks. The guide showed us how the eggs were planted on the underside of foliage, developing quickly into caterpillers, cocoons, and then hatched into the beautiful butterflies. One of the more interesting exhibits was a bed of carnivorous plants - plants that devoured and lived off insects. One of the plants was the famous Venus Fly Trap.
Thursday, August 12th - Victoria is a special city with an interesting history. It's the capitol of British Columbia despite being somewhat isolated on Vancouver. Victoria traces its beginning to the establishment of Fort Victoria and a trading post on the harbor in 1843. The Hudson's Bay Company had a virtual monopoly in the fur trade in the area and was anxious to establish Great Britain's right to Vancouver Island. Had the fort not be firmly established when it was, the island may have become a part of the United States along with the rest of the area south of the 49th parallel. It was just three years later in 1846 when the Oregon Treaty established the 49th parallel as the boundary between the U.S. and Canada. The city was incorporated by an act of the legislature on July 22, 1862, named, of course, for the renowned queen of England.
Victoria was now an enchanting city, very clean, neat and full of flowers. The traditional symbol of the city is the five-globe lamp post with its two swinging baskets of flowers. Each of some 1100 of these lamp posts has nine varieties of flowers, and they all have to be watered every day! The city is very British in both appearance and practice. There are many interesting pubs and tea rooms that promote the traditional afternoon English tea. These places have such unusual names as The Blethering Place, The James Bay, Point-No-Point, The Blue Peter, The Waddling Dog, The Latch, etc.
Facing the harbor in elegant style, the most prominent building in Victoria is the Empress Hotel, built around the turn of the century. Nearby are the Parliament Building and the Royal British Columbia Museum. The legislature meets in the Parliament Building annually. The building is a massive stone structure designed by a twenty-five year old architect in 1894. On the huge lawn is an unusual flag pole over 200 feet tall made from a single Douglas fir tree. There is also a redwood tree on the lawn that was given by the state of California. The double decker buses are another reminder of London, England.
We started the day by visiting the Craigdarroch Castle. Not really a castle, the large old mansion was built by a wealthy businessman back in the 1880s. Robert Dunsmuir was into coal mining, railroading, and several other businesses. The mansion was completed in 1890, after Dunsmuir's death. His widow lived in it until 1908, then nobody wanted the 28 acre estate. It became the subject of an elaborate lottery won by a man named Soloman Cameron who couldn't afford the maintenance. Afterward, it was a military hospital, a college, the Victoria school board, and a museum. Now it is being restored to its original grandeur, but the oak paneling is dark and depressing. The mansion contains over 25,000 square feet; has 17 fireplaces and 8 bedrooms.
We enjoyed lunch on the porch of the Gatsby mansion overlooking the inner harbor. This old mansion was built in the 1920s, reflecting the elegance of that era. In contrast to the somberness of Craigdarroch, Gatsby was bright and airy. The soup and sandwiches were very good too.
After lunch we watched an Imax movie about the artifacts being found in the Egyptian pyramids, then headed back to camp. Now that we're not as far north, our Dish Network satellite system is working again, so we're watching the Braves again.
Friday, August 13th - The last day of the caravan. We spent most of the day in the campground watching the devastating news from Florida. Hurricane Charley hit Punta Gorda with sustained winds of 145 mph, doing incredible damage.
The final banquet of our caravan was held at the Harbor Towers Hotel in a twelfth floor banquet room. The meal was first rate after which Bonnie Herman led an "in house" entertainment program. Sheriff Vernon Urban conducted a kangaroo court and sentencing that was hilarious; I recited Robert Service's Ballad of Bessie's Boil; Gracie read a nice poem; and Bonnie sang a medley of state songs. It was a memorable evening, and we all had mixed feelings about saying good-bye. It's always tough to say good-bye at the end of caravan, but hope to see our new friends "down the road" again.
Saturday, August 14th - Everyone made separate arrangements for leaving Vancouver Island. We had reservations on the Anacortes ferry that left Sydney at 11:00am. By boarding the ferry separately, we saved about $50 for some reason, so Ann drove the Saturn and I drove the motorhome to Sydney and aboard. We found each other quickly aboard and enjoyed the two and a half hour trip through the San Juan Islands. The water was smooth and full of pleasure boats. We passed through immigration on the Sydney side and through customs on the Washington side with no problems in either case. We found a spot alongside the road to connect the Saturn back to the motorhome and continued on. The traffic from Anacortes through Seattle to Lacey along I-5 was heavy all the way. We pulled into the Washington Land Yacht Harbor (an Airstream Park) at Lacey about 7:30pm, finding that several others of our caravan friends were there too.
Sunday, August 15th - After church we drove south to see Phil Bradley and his family in Vancouver, Washington, but on the way made a side trip to Mount St. Helens. On the road that approaches the north side of the mountain, three Interpretative Centers have been built since our last visit, and the road has been extended another 10 miles. The landscape is still mostly barren, even after 24 years. The rangers like to point to the new green shrubbery in some places, but it is really sparse. There does not appear to be any greenery on the mountain peak itself. It is a desolate place. The area now accessible by the new road still has the shattered tree trunks lying around, demonstrating the incredible force that hit the mountainsides when the volcano erupted in 1980.
We drove on down to Phil's new house, meeting wife Karen for the first time. Keith is a boisterous 7 year old now. Little Keith was a little bashful to begin with, then warmed up to us. They have a beautiful home, easy to find. Phil works across the Columbia River in the Portland area, but feels the school system in Washington is much better. We had to cut our visit short in order to make the drive back to Lacey before dark, but thoroughly enjoyed being with them for a while.
Monday, August 16th - Laundry and vehicle maintenance and some more good-byes took up most of the day as we made ready to start the long trip back east.
Tuesday, August 17th - Following I-90 eastbound, we crossed the Cascade Mountains through Snoqualmie Pass. These are rugged mountains, standing tall on both sides of the pass. The weather was clear but warm - too warm for any snow on the mountain peaks even. Once through the pass, the landscape changed to gradually flattening, rolling hills. There was a lot of haze, or smoke, presumably from fires somewhere near. We made it to Spokane before calling it a day.
Wednesday, August 18th - We left Spokane in threatening weather proceeding on our easterly course. Just across the Idaho border was Coeur d' Alene and its beautiful lake. It didn't take long to get back into the mountains - this time the Bitteroots - through which we drove in the rain most of the day. Found a Cracker Barrel for lunch in Missoula, Montana, then proceeded on to Butte for the night.
Thursday, August 19th - The weather was clear and hot this day. After proceeding from Butte through Bozeman and Billings, we emerged from the mountains and entered a wide open plains that became badlands by the time we reached Miles City. Montana is one large state.
Friday, August 20th - The landscape called the Badlands appears to have been ripped and torn by some giant beast, rooting the land apart for the pure thrill of it. Trees are few and far between. The grass that covers most of the surface is short and brown. Sage brush is abundant. Yet it all has a unique beauty and appeal. We'd been following the Yellowstone River for a long time. The only signs of civilization is the highway, a few fences, an occasional ranch house, and now and then a power line. Much of the appeal comes from the wide open spaces. From the hilltops you can see for miles in any direction.
We finally crossed into North Dakota about mid-morning and found a Flying J Truck Stop with gasoline at $1.829 per gallon - the lowest price we've seen on the trip. At the last fill up, the price was $1.999, and in Canada the price was over $2.60 per gallon after all the conversions.
We settled for the rest of the day in Medora at the entrance to Theodore Roosevelt National Park about 30 miles east of the Montana border. After a walk through town, purchasing tickets for the pitchfork fondue and musical show later in the evening, we drove into the park to search for the buffalo herd. On the three occasions we've visited this place before, we've never found the buffalo. But this time, there they were, fifty or sixty strong some six miles from the entrance. The prairie dogs were out in abundance too.
Medora was founded by an enterprising Frenchman named de Mores who attempted to establish a beef processing plant there. He named the town for his wife. Thinking he could butcher beef near their origin and ship the processed meat to the eastern markets more efficiently than shipping the cattle east on the hoof, he invested a huge amount in building a plant at the edge of town. The brick smoke stack and a boiler still exist amidst the ruin of the plant. His project failed, and he went back to France. The town almost faded away too, but Medora has now been transformed into an interesting tourist attraction.
Theodore Roosevelt gave credit to his time in this part of North Dakota for his ability to become President. The stories of his experiences here are told through various books and drama in Medora.
At 6:00pm we headed up the hill to the head of the box canyon that has been made into an amphitheater. Nearly 700 people were there to share in the pitchfork fondue, a unique way to cook steaks. 700 steaks were skewered on pitchforks awaiting a plunge in huge vats of hot cooking oil. It took about 45 minutes to serve everybody. Baked potatos, baked beans, salad, drinks and desserts accompanied the steaks. It was a beautiful evening for such an outdoor meal.
Then, at 7:30pm the escalator started running to take folks down to the amphitheater seating, and the show began at 8:00pm. The history of Medora was told with songs, dances, juggling, balloon sculpting, and a look-alike actor portraying Teddy Roosevelt. The musical drama touched on such historical events as the Lewis & Clark expedition, George Custer's march through Medora on his fatal trip to the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the years Teddy Roosevelt lived and ranched here, the Marquis de Mores venture, the 1947 creation of the national park, and the restoration of Medora in later years. It was good, wholesome entertainment. They'd been doing this every night since early May, and will continue through Labor Day.
Saturday, August 21st - We were back on the road by 9:00am. The landscape changed almost as soon as we left Medora.. Now we were passing through hilly country, but much smoothed out from the tortured landscape of the Badlands. We passed into the Central Time Zone on the way to Bismarck, and the traffic increased on the highway. Arriving in Bismarck about noon, we found another Cracker Barrel for lunch.
Bismarck is located on the Missouri River not far from where the Lewis & Clark expedition spent the winter of 1804-05. With this being the 200th anniversary of that historic event, there were L&C signs everywhere. Shops were full of things promoting the event - books, souvenirs, clothing, pins, candy bars, flags, etc. We took a ride on the Lewis & Clark riverboat - a 1 ½ hour cruise up the Missouri and back. Upstream progress was slow, even under diesel power. Progress using manpower with oars must have been agonizingly slow.
The Missouri is wide at this point and quite clean. The river is the longest on the North American continent - some 2500 miles long, extending from Helena, Montana to St.Louis, Missouri. Of course, we only saw a small segment of it on the cruise, and it was difficult hearing the narrator with dozens of children aboard making noise. Not far from the docks there was a life-size model of the keelboat used on the L&C expedition. Larger than one might expect, the keelboat must have been imposing to the Indians when they saw it for the first time.
There were about 4500 Mandan people in the Indian villages when the L&C group came through. Thirty years later a small pox epidemic, brought by the white man, wiped out more than half of them. One of the Mandan villages was right above the boat landing where we boarded the riverboat. Another was upstream where we turned around.
The river cruised ended just as a heavy rainstorm struck. We drove back to our campsite in the local KOA campground in the storm. As KOAs go, this is a nice one - and reasonable. We stayed here once before in 1998.
Sunday, August 22nd - The present town of Washburn, ND, about 40 miles upriver from Bismarck, is closest to the actual site of the L&C winter camp. The Corps of Discovery, as they called themselves, made friends with the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians and made themselves at home for the first winter of the trip. The fort built by the expedition has been reconstructed and serves to keep the history of the expedition alive. We drove up to Washburn from Bismarck to see the new Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and to visit the reconstructed Fort Mandan. Though far off the beaten path, the Interpretive Center is exceptional. It does a good job of telling the story of the L&C expedition from both the white man's and the Indian's point of view. There are many significant artifacts and some hands-on displays, such as a buffalo robe (heavy, heavy) to try on and a papoose carrier to hold. A collection of artwork by Michael Caine depicting various aspects of the expedition is especially nice.
Fort Mandan must have been a miserable place for 40 men to spend five months in 40 below zero cold weather. The hastily constructed, triangular shaped fort was built in October of 1804 and served as home for the corps until they left in April of 1805. They had good relations with the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians whose villages were across the river. It was here that they met and hired Charboneau and his wife Sakagawea who would accompany the corps on the expedition. It was at the fort that Sakagawea gave birth to the child she carried with her on the entire trip. Sakagawea was to prove to be invaluable to the expedition. It was also from Fort Mandan that Lewis sent the keelboat back to St. Louis with things he had collected thus far on the trip.
The journals that Lewis and Clark kept continue to provide insights into the trip and have made it possible to preserve history through these reconstructions and interpretive centers. Interest in all this L&C stuff is at a peak now during the bicentennial of the event. All the foundations involved who have been working on the projects hope that interest will continue beyond the significant 200 year dates. Dark Rain Thom, the Shawnee wife of author Alexander Thom, who we met on the Mississippi Queen riverboat earlier this year, had a lot to do with the establishment of the Washburn center.
Monday, August 23rd - Not much to report today. We bucked head winds for 300 miles today driving from Bismarck to Fargo, and then to Siseton, South Dakota. Found gasoline at a Flying J in Fargo at $1.799/gal. - the lowest on the trip. The head winds lowered our mileage from 9.0 to 8.2 mpg, more than making up for the cheaper gas. The landscape in South Dakota is plain, old, boring flat with lots of cornfields. Speaking of crops, the predominant field crop around Bismarck was sunflowers. There were acres and acres of the yellow flowers, all facing east.
Tuesday, August 24th - Headed south now, we drove down I-29 through Sioux Falls to Sioux City, Iowa. The head winds of Monday had abated, resulting in a much smoother ride. At Sioux City, another city on the Missouri River, there was another Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center - this one, because of its interactive characteristics and live interpreters, was much more interesting than the one at Washburn, ND.
In the same riverfront park is a Welcome Center housed in an old river workboat named the Sergeant Floyd, named for the only member of the Corps of Discovery to die on the trip - Sergeant Charles Floyd. His death in 1804 - from a gastric disorder rather than any form of violence - is thought to be the first American soldier to die in the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. He was buried with full military honors high upon a bluff near the welcome center. Interestingly, his bones were disinterred in 1900 to be reburied beneath a huge obelisk memorial on the bluff. At that time a plaster cast of the scull was made. This plaster cast later served to allow a forensic reconstruction of the sergeant's head and face. A full-sized model - with the reconstructed head - is on display on the boat.
One of the more interesting things at the L&C Interpretive Center is a oversized bronze sculpture out front of the two captains - Lewis and Clark - and Lewis's Newfoundland dog, Seaman. There is also a tall flag staff flying a replica of the 15 star, 15 strip U. S. flag carried by the Corps of Discovery.
Wednesday, August 25th - Driving in the rain most of the way, we moved from Sioux City, Iowa to Kansas City, Missouri, parking in the same campground in Independence where we rendezvoused in 1998 for the Oregon Trail caravan. Luckily, there was one site left. The unusual spire of the Mormon Temple rises just to the north of the campground.
The city of Kansas City spans the border between Missouri and Kansas and has swallowed up the old city of Independence - the jumping off place for the thousands of pioneers that flooded west back in the mid 1800s on the Oregon Trail. The 40 men on the Lewis and Clark expedition came by here 200 years ago (1804) on the Missouri River with their keelboat and two pirogues. Independence was the home of Harry Truman and is the location of his old home and library. All that makes the area historically significant in many ways.
Thursday, August 26th - Despite some iffy directions from the lady at the campground we found the Steamboat Arabia museum without too much trouble. We were there as they opened for the first tour at 10:00am. This museum is a must stop for anyone coming close to Kansas City. We visited the museum the first time five years ago, and much new had been added. It is a work in progress. The steamboat Arabia sunk in the Missouri river in 1856 after hitting a floating log. The boat carried 210 tons of brand new merchandise, 400 barrels of Kentucky bourbon, plus a number of passengers. The passengers escaped but lost their belongings. In time the river changed course, leaving the Arabia buried under what had become a corn field. A daring excavation uncovered the boat in 1988. They found no trace of the whiskey, but recovered a virtual historical treasure in the other cargo.
Immersed in water and mud for 140 years, most of the goods had to be treated with special care to avoid deterioration, so it all was frozen and stored in a huge cold storage warehouse. We were told that it will take about 25 years to bring everything out and treat it in a way it can be put on display. What has been cleaned up and preserved already makes an awesome exhibit and tells a valuable story about what people had to work with in the mid-19th century - European dishware, cooking utensils, knives, forks, spoons, clothspins, jewelry, guns, tools of all sorts, food products, bottles of perfume, clothing, boots, hats, cigars, pipes, trade beads, buttons, coins, and much more. The stern of the boat was recovered and is also on display. We marveled at the exhibits for two hours.
Our guide was a young lady who also worked in the recovery lab. One of her accomplishments was the restringing of beads. The original cotton string had dissolved. She told us that there were over five million beads recovered. Greg Hawley, one of the adventurers who found the Arabia, came out to talk to us at one point. His first hand account of the excavation was special. One of the things he touched on was a story of another steamboat further upstream that has been recovered - the Bertram. Recovery of the cargo of the Bertram has been financed by a government grant, and the museum for it is a twenty million dollar project. He also told of another boat - the Princess - that his group is hoping to raise.
A short drive back through downtown Kansas City brought us to the Crown Center. This began as an urban renewal project, replacing a decaying part of town with a vibrant shopping, dining, and entertainment center that contains two million square feet of office space and the city's two largest hotels. The project was the dream of the creator of Hallmark Cards - Mr.Joyce C. Hall and his son, Donald Hall. Included in the complex is a Hallmark museum. Several of the artists and die makers that create Hallmark cards were working in exhibits, as well some of the printing machines. Viewing the exhibits made us more appreciative of the cards.
After lunch in the Crown Center, we drove out to a Cabelos store on the Kansas side of the Missouri River. In front of the store is a huge bronze casting of three elk. We saw this being created in a foundry in Lander, Wyoming six years ago. This store is huge with all sorts of sporting goods and clothing. In the center of the store is an enormous exhibit of taxidermy - grizzly bears, mountain goats, elk, moose, mountain sheep, antelope, wolves, coyotes, foxes, polar bears, mule deer, prairie dogs, and a plethora of smaller animals.
Friday, August 27th - We left Independence about 8:00am intending to stop in St. Louis, but things were going well, so we. kept on driving through St. Louis to Benton, Illinois for the night. The interstate highway system through St. Louis and across the Mississippi River is one heck of a maze, but designed for a minimum of lane changing. With an eagle eye out for the signs, we made it through fine with hardly any slow down. The heat is something else - near 100 degrees and quite a contrast from what we've been spoiled by in Canada.
Saturday, August 28th - Passing through Paducah, Kentucky, the time of day was just right to visit Patti's in Grand River for lunch. Signs along the highway pointed to "Patti's 1880's Settlement." More now than just a restaurant, that description is appropriate. But the restaurant still specializes in two inch thick pork chops, flower pot bread loaves, and lemon pies with six inch meringue. Only three miles off I-24, it was not much out of the way to make the visit, and it was worth it - a very special place. We found a campground just east of Nashville for the night.
Sunday, August 29th - This is the last entry to this travelog. We made it home about 2:30pm after a smooth ride from Nashville. We drove the motorhome almost exactly 7,000 miles, averaging 9.03 miles per gallon. The price of gas averaged $1.95 per gallon, ranging from $1.79 to $2.38. I didn't keep track of the mileage on the Saturn which we used for sightseeing after reaching each destination, but we only put gas in it about three times. The spectacular scenery in the Canadian Rockies has to be the most beautiful on the North American continent.
