Start of trip

Thurs., July 29th:

We are at Marble Lake Provincial Recreation Site costing $15 Canadian. There are two lakes with geese and ducks. We haven’t seen the sun all afternoon because of wildfire smoke.

Driving through downtown Vancouver B.C. was no fun. Narrow lanes, switching streets, and stop and go traffic. Janeil successful navigated us with the help of AAA instructions.

Driving over the mountains on Canadian Highway 99 was enjoyable. About two-thirds of it was newly paved. They are having the winter olympics in Whistler so the road to it was superb. We have only made about 800 miles so it is unlikely we will make it to Fairbanks (2800 miles) in less than 7 days. We have been driving for about 8-9 hours each day. Gasoline was $1.07 Canadian a liter which is about $4 US a gallon. The border guard asked me what guns I had at home and when was the last time I had it in the van. Tricky question.

Last night we found a hippie haven called Camp Ki in Arlington, Washington after dark. The manager talked to Janeil through a crack in his door. It ended up being a nice spot and we paid $19.80. It was on a lake. Most of the people looked like permanent refugees.

Yesterday we took Highway 26 in Oregon to the Tillamook Forestry Center. It was great. I climbed the fire lookout tower. There was a movie on the fires which started in 1933 and reoccurred every 6 years until 1957. What an incredible jinx. They even had the smell of smoke in the theatre for ambiance. The museum is well worth visiting with kids and there is a campground there.

The temperature got up to 108 degrees so we kept driving until dark.

Friday 31 July 2009:

We are waiting in a long line (hundreds of vehicles) on the Al/Can highway just to the north of Clinton. We gassed up at Canadian $1.08 per liter. There is a terrible mountain pine beetle infestation in British Columbia. We just got news that a fatal accident has occurred and there is at least a 3 hour wait before we can get by it. The local cars are turning around but the RV and trucks are just going to wait it out.

Last night there was a plaintive Loon wail echoing over the lake. This morning I saw a large crane-like bird flying east. It is 9 am and the temperature is 78 degrees F. The news gives the temperature in centigrade which we don’t know how to convert. We are listening to one conference tape each morning. We also have some books on tape.