Carpe Dory (2)

This is a first time campground for us, which is always fun. We’ve passed by this park a bunch of times on the way to Humboldt Redwoods Burlington campground, or heading south to Standish Hickey. It’s just a little farther north from Standish Hickey, but could make a decent stopping point if I’ve just driven over the super twisty part of highway 1 heading north and didn’t want to push through to get to Burlington. There are some downsides though, like it’s not quite as pretty as Burlington, and is farther from the Avenue of the Giants, where there is a lot to do. It would have gotten bonus points if it had good cell service, or a dump, but on balance, I think we prefer the majestic beauty of Burlington if we have the choice. Still, it’s a nice woodsy campground with a nice trail up Durphy Creek for Richard’s morning routine.

There is always a lot of construction on highways 101 and 1, which is a good thing because it means California is trying to fix its roads, but you can pretty much count on some stretch of highway being one lane with a light or a flagger letting cars through by alternating one direction at a time. There’s a big lane closure just to the north of the park, but it is open and the entry road is clear. The thought of biking crossed our minds, but you’d not only have to ride 101 in a narrow, blind corner part, but also have to go through the closure.

With plenty of time left after getting in our site, we walked down to the river to see what’s what. There were lots of people floating or splashing around, and for the first time this whole trip, besides one day in Jasper, it was actually hot. Not like hot hot, but somewhere in the 80s warm/hotish. That is one of the many things that worked super well this summer: we totally avoided summer heat. The downside is that after a week or so with no hookups to run our little electric space heater, everything was starting to feel moist. This was a great stay to air things out get rid of some of the dampness. I even left the back window open, despite the warnings of a bear in the campground. I was willing to take the risk of a curry hunting intruder going through our pantry for the sake of saving the towels from getting mildewy.

The visitor center was closed at the time, but open the next day. It’s a historic lodge that was built in the late 1920s and it has lots of interesting informational displays about the local wildlife, redwood trees, native inhabitants, and park history. It also has an inviting poster in the window noting that July is National Ice Cream Month and they do have an ice cream coffin with individual Haagen Dazs bars.

There is a short interpretive trail through the old growth redwoods with one of them named the “Bat Tree.” Apparently, a colony of Yuma Myotis bats have taken up residence inside the fire hollowed tree. A ranger informed us that the bats have moved on to another hollowed out tree and that she has heard them in there. We did find the tree and listened hard, but 101 runs right next to the trail and there was no way we were going to hear them. We did however spy a couple of frogs down by the river. We missed the excitement when a rattlesnake was hanging out in the parking lot, eating moles and scaring dogs. No bears, no mountain lions, no bats, but yes frogs and a few mosquitoes.

Because it was finally hot, I got to pull out the grill and made a steak with toasted crouton panzanella salad. Pairing that with a blended margarita is one of my favorite camping activities. We discussed options for things to do the next day, which obviously included a mission to Il Forno Bakery in Garberville where they sell freshly made doughnuts until they run out. We missed them last time we came through, so this was job #1. After that, we decided to drive up to Burlington where we could launch our bikes and ride Mattole Road.

All missions were achieved with no hiccups. We split a couple of fresh doughnuts and drove to the parking area at Humboldt Redwoods Visitor Center plenty early so we could get a parking spot. And can you guess who we saw riding south as we were driving north on the Avenue of the Giants? Flavia and James! I don’t know if they know who we are without the trailer, but we waved furiously as we passed them. I would have honked or something but I didn’t want to swerve in the excitement and kill them. That would be in very bad form.

When you start from Burlington Visitor Center, or from the campground next door, you get to ride about five miles on the Avenue of the Giants road before taking a left and turning up Mattole Road. This is one of our favorite rides and it never gets old. The surface is nicely paved right now, but it’s a narrow one lane curvy road with huge trees pushing so far into the passageway, I wondered if Dory would fit. Luckily, besides going to the Albee Campground the road doesn’t lead anywhere most people want to go, so there is very little traffic. Past the campground, it looks like the road takes a terrifying switchbacky steep route that eventually lands on the Lost Coast. I don’t think we’d even want to bike that, let alone drive it. But the ten mile ride through the deep dark redwood forest is one of the best anywhere in the world.

There are a couple of stops you can make along the way to see named groves of trees. The first is the Rockefeller Grove and the next is called the “Big Trees” loop. It’s funny to me, in the context of being surrounded by nothing but big trees, that they specifically name some of them “Big Tree” or “Tall Tree.” I mean, they’re all pretty big and tall. But I guess there are a couple who won the championship at being just a little bit bigger or taller than the others. I wonder if they are resented by the other trees, or if they have imposter syndrome. We did do the loop trail and we did note that, yes, there are some very big trees in there.

We rode up to Albee Campground and got some good information from the ranger there. She recommended the Homestead and Bull Creek trails very highly, so we did a 2.7 mile loop that I would also tell others is definitely worth doing. The Homestead trail is entirely through huge redwood groves. It’s shady and cool, with the occasional banana slug. The Bull Creek trail is just on the edge of the redwoods only party, so it has some oaks and bay trees mixed in, letting in a little more light, and as a result, a little more warmth. It’s striking how cool the temperatures are when you’re in a dense redwood forest.

We had a little lunch back at the campground and rode our way back to the car. While still on Mattole Road, we were passed by two huge logging trucks and that was a sight to see. While I wasn’t even sure how a tiny trailer might get past some of the tighter spots, the trucks made it through just fine. We got out of the way and they waved us a thank you. Later we saw them stopped to tighten everything down before getting on 101 and we asked them if that was scary driving. They said yes it was, but only because they were worried about colliding with other cars. They are right at home with switchbacks and deathy drop-off edges; it’s us flat landers going too fast around blind curves they’re scared of squishing.

Before settling in for the day, we made a curiosity stop at the Legend of Bigfoot. This is a conspicuous tourist trap just before you get to Richardson Grove. It is what you’d think it is. Anything you can imagine with themes of trees, Bigfoot, or whimsical garden ornaments is being sold there. We were tempted by folding knives with redwood handles. You see, we often need to cut doughnuts, or pizza, or croissants in half, and a little serrated travel knife would certainly come in handy. We resisted temptation and did not get any of the ones with “Richard” on them. Then it was back to Dory for a blue apron spicy chicken with snow peas, bell pepper, and golden raisin rice. Oh, I also did run down to the visitor center when it was open and I did get an ice cream bar. Richard completed a five mile hike in an hour and a half. One of us is going to be sad when we finally do get back on that scale.

Total miles from Sue-Meg: 104.3, 16.7 mpg, 4 hours 6 min. Site 25 no hookups. Hardly any solar. No dump. Water spigots. Tight campground loop road. No cell really for Verizon, spotty cell for ATT. Nice visitor center, no wifi, but ice cream coffin. Great trail from campground for Richard up Durphy Creek. He notes that is it better going counter clockwise because the grade is better.

Leaving Del Norte, we took the scenic route along Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway to remind ourselves how that would be for biking. It’s a nice road with redwoods and slow traffic, so we’d like to do that on a future stay at the Prairie Creek Campground. It is about thirty miles from Del Norte, so we figure we made a good call not trying to do the Fern Canyon hike this time. Future plans. 

We weren’t able to get into our site until two, so we had about an hour to kill after arrival. I parked in day use and Richard hiked around the campground trails and previewed our site. He was really frustrated about the lack of cell service and that continued as a theme for this stay. He was able to complain to Verizon and they apologized, reset his phone, and things worked a little better after that. Still, it’s worth remembering that from Crescent City, all the way to Eureka, cell service is inconsistent and spotty. Trinidad is kind of the first place where it’s back for real for a while. 

After unhitching, we made for Arcata, where there was a bike shop, Adventure’s Edge, that had tires that would fit my e-bike. We’re pretty sure the flat on the rear wheel, which was later another flat on the front wheel, were both because the tires were wearing and abrading the inner tubes. For a very reasonable price, the bike shop not only replaced both tires, but adjusted the gears and lubricated the chain. It was definitely time to get service done on the bike, so this was a great call. I give the folks at Adventure’s Edge high praise and appreciation for taking us on short notice. 

While waiting, we walked around Arcata a bit and got a bite to eat at Humboldt Pie. This was also a great call. They make savory things, including hand pies, as well as all kinds of sweet pies. We split a quesebirria hand pie with dipping sauce, a pulled pork, and a spinach ricotta. They were all fantastic. For dessert, we split a slice of apple pie. This place is renowned in the area and deserves its glowing reviews. 

It took less than an hour for my bike to be ready, so we got geared up and rode out to find the bike trail that connects Arcata to Eureka. We’ve looked for information on this trail before, and I think it might be brand spanking new. It is a nicely paved multi-use trail that passes through marsh lands and wildlife preserves before it skirts highway 101 across the banks of Humboldt Bay. There are plans to some day connect all of these coastal trails, but this is one of the first sections that has actually been completed. We stopped at the Eureka Slough Bridge and turned around for a nice out and back. The trail also passes right by a Franz Bakery outlet store. This is the company that makes Richard’s favorite hand pies. We didn’t stop, but it’s not like they would have anything special there. We noted for the future that they close at 4pm in case we want to pie up on the fly.

The next morning, we decided to drive rather than bike over to Trinidad to get some decent cell service and launch our planned bike ride from there. The Beachcomber Cafe was listed as a place with free wifi, plus it had little breakfasty items. As a fun surprise, we met again a couple we have seen bike touring down 101. Their names are Flavia and James and they are biking all the way from Washington to San Diego. We first met them up at the Langlois Market, after leaving Bandon. Since then, we have spotted their bright yellow jackets and yellow panniers at least three times on the road. Seeing them at the cafe, we introduced ourselves and swapped stories. It turns out they live just a few miles away from us. How crazy is that? They are a seriously badass couple and have all my respect. They recently did a cross country trip over the course of four months. I can’t even imagine. Spotting them repeatedly on the road is a super fun driving game and I get tickled every time I see them. Safe travels Flavia and James! I’m looking forward to seeing you again on the road!

After chatting, we headed on down the Scenic Drive south from Trinidad. That is a gorgeous ride with incredible views, but a barely paved surface. They seem to be trying to fix some of this road, but it’s slow going. There are long stretches where there is no pavement whatsoever, sandwiched between sections where there are just major pot holes and areas of loose gravel. It does keep down car traffic, but man, it’s tough on road bike tires. 

The road eventually ends and you have to take the onramp for 101 south. This direction is downhill and you only need to make it to the next exit, but it’s exciting. Going back on the return, it’s a big climb, likely into headwinds, so that one is brutal. The first exit heading south is Crannell Road and you get to ride along Clam Beach. At the very end of this, you see signs for the Hammond Trail. This is mostly a paved multi-use trail, but there are a few sections that are hard packed gravel. They’re short, but if your bike doesn’t like anything but pavement, you will be walking some of it. 

We caught up with Flavia and James again on one of these sections and we tried to give them beta on what we remembered of the trail. We’d only gone as far as the Mad River Bridge before, so there was an unknown portion between that and the Humboldt Bay, Arcata-Eureka, trail. That turns out to be about five miles of quiet roadway following Mad River Road, and then surface streets, until you come to a little park. From Shay Park, you can then pick up the Arcata Bike Trail to get all the way through town, and eventually, to the Humboldt Trail. 

We chose a motivating mission for this ride and navigated all the way to Arcata Scoop. This place makes their own ice cream in house and is excellent. I had the mint chip and it was one of the top contenders in the mint flavor category. I prefer Tillamook or Shannon’s for the chip part, but am not complaining. It’s a cute atmosphere too, with a little pond in the back for outdoor seating. Fueled by ice cream, we rode the whole sixteen miles back to Trinidad. For the record, it is a really really good idea to drive and park in Trinidad. You save yourself about five miles of not so spectacular riding when you are probably pretty tuckered out. We were very happy to get back to the car. Also, the fog had rolled in, so it was chilly and damp.

We had planned on cooking, but once we got back to the car, I had no will power against the smell of wood fire oven baked pizza. I actually lost all willpower back in Vancouver and have been willfully misbehaving ever since. I also know that once we get home, I will have to pull myself together, so there’s an extra incentive to indulge while it’s still a free for all. So we gave in to the aroma coming from Headies Pizza & Pour and shared “Wookie” and “Redwoods” specialty combo slices, which had, among other things I don’t remember, pepperoni, sausage, and a drizzle of sweet fig sauce. They have different specials every day with gluten free and vegan options. Fabulous.

Me in May: “I’ll do so much hiking and biking and get right back on track with my weight. I’ll buy a scale and count calories and come back from summer in great shape!” Me in Vancouver: “Well, just for this stop, I’ll take a little break. Then I’ll get right back on it. It’ll be fine.” Me right after Vancouver: “Oh. There’s really fun food on Whidbey Island. But I’m sure the food gets less exciting from here on out.” Me every day since then: “Well, I guess July is a cheat month. I’ll weigh myself when we get home. I’m sure the post vacation blues won’t lead to binge eating at all.” Me now: “Well, maybe I’m happier fat.”

Richard got in a lot of hiking in Sue-Meg, but honestly, I did not really walk around the park this time. When he was hiking, I was either doing my morning shower routine, or I was knitting. I’ve gotten to the super complicated heel turn section, and I’m very pleased with the progress. If I can make one sock, I will have conquered a challenge and satisfied my curiosity. It has been really fun so far, but I still need to be careful not to screw up my hands, so I take breaks and stretch diligently. With about a week left, we still have some fun stops before home!

Total miles from Del Norte Mill Creek: 52.5, 16.0 mpg, 3 hours 31 min taking Prairie Creek Redwoods scenic and waiting in day use. Site 70 no hookups. No solar. No cell for Verizon, ok cell for ATT. Cell service inconsistent around campground, especially for Verizon. There is now a free good dump in the park. No need to use rest area dump station. 

We really love this campground. It is by far the most picturesque of any we’ve stayed at this trip, and one of the most beautiful settings of any campgrounds we’ve been to. The price you have to pay to sleep amongst old growth redwood giants is a steep descent of a little over two miles from 101 and you must endure terrible roads the whole way. The loop roads aren’t any better and they’re tight, but if you can fit and you’re ok with the bumps, you will be treated to otherworldly forests. The campground is named for what was once a logging operation where many of the old giants were cut down before the land could be protected. There are stumps the size of small cabins that have since been taken over by new redwoods. There are scatterings of deciduous trees and the floor is carpeted with ferns. It’s prime real estate for fairies, dinosaurs, and mythical creatures. Our site was nice and spacious, with total privacy.

Before heading down into what we knew was a cell hole, we stopped and restocked at the Safeway in Crescent City. We got caught up on service things, I blogged, and we made some fancy purchases, like a new watch for Richard, and a cast iron skillet for Dory. The skillet was a direct result of getting that delicious cranberry syrup and we were able to test it out by having a taco recipe we normally only do on the grill. I’m excited at how well the skillet fit four street taco tortillas and that will open up a bunch of recipes to being done indoory in Dory when we’re too wimpy to cook outside.

The trails in this area are all going to be very uppy downy. We had to figure out some logistics in order to do the Damnation Creek Trail because the trailhead is closed due to road construction. It turns out to be a simple fix if you just park at the pull out for the Coastal Trail, about a mile to the south. That turns out to be a very pleasant way to start and end that particular trail because you get to enjoy a mile of pretty flat going before you hit the down, down, down. Last time we did this trail, we were welcomed by a host of rhododendrons in bloom. They weren’t in full swing at this time of the summer, but what was blooming were those Tiger Lilies I love so much. I thought they were a rare spotting, but this area was just lousy with them. There were patches along the side of the road that make them seem like weeds. I was still pretty excited to admire them, even if they are more ubiquitous than I thought.

The Damnation Creek Trail is about a two mile trek that descends a thousand feet to a secluded beach. It seemed more overgrown to me this time, perhaps because of the trailhead closure, and there were a couple of downed trees we had to get over. We annoyed a couple of garter snakes with our presence and didn’t see any other people until we were almost back at the top. It was a cloudy day and we were inside the clouds. The mist drifted through the treetops, with occasional rays of sunlight punching through to make an absolutely magical scene. It was mystical. On the climb to the top, we tried a new hiking trick to cope with our diverse paces. Rather than have me struggle to keep up with Richard (which I can’t), and rather than have him try to hold himself to my pace (which he can, but it’s hard for him), I tried going ahead. He set a timer for three minutes on his phone and read a book. Timer goes off, he heads up to catch me. It made a big difference for me. No longer did I fee like a pacing drag and I got to hike at my own speed. It kind of felt like a game of chase and we were both elated every time he caught me. It’s a good uphill trick that adds another accommodation tool to our tool belt.

We talked about maybe doing the Fern Canyon Trail, but that would require either a reservation to drive the six miles of unpaved road to the trailhead, or hike five and a half miles one way to get there, do the loop, and hike it all back. It’s also a thirty mile drive from Mill Creek. All of those things made us decide to save that for a time when we camp at the Prairie Creek Redwoods campground. Logistics would be simplified greatly, and maybe I could get a reservation if I plan ahead for it. So instead, since we were pleased and intrigued by the Coastal Trail, we went to Endert’s Beach to pick it up and do a little out and back.

When we were on the Coastal Trail going to Damnation Creek, we noticed it was not only paved, but had remnants of white lines painted on it, as if it was previously a road. We speculated about what it could have been, but ruled out the idea that it was ever an old version of 101. It turns out, that is exactly what it was. As hard as it still is for me to believe, the old highway used to run along the cliff’s edge. It must have been narrow as hell and quite the exhilarating drive. Over time, parts of it have fallen off and been swept up by the sea, so they just keep moving it inland. On Endert’s Beach, we noticed large rocks that look suspiciously like concrete that has been worn and rounded by the ocean. I guess that’s old 101 there. Incredible.

If you keep going south from Endert’s Beach, you can climb steeply up a thousand feet for two miles and continue with the Coastal Trail. It goes on and on, so we just went until we were convinced we were not going to get a view of the ocean, then we turned back. Actually, Richard went on a little more while I turned back, and then he caught me on the downhill. You can definitely see that the ocean is right there, and you can hear it, but the trees are so dense, you can only get glimpses of water from above.

This part of the Coastal Trail is less used and more overgrown. We were curious about whether people through hike it, and if so, where do they camp? There’s a whole lot of nothing between Crescent City and Arcata/Eureka, so it would be beautiful for sure, but you’d be on your own in terms of provisions.

Back in the campground, there is one big uppy downy loop trail that gets you level with 101. Part of it is in disrepair from collapsed short bridges, but Richard was able to do it as an exercise hike several times. Unfortunately he got stung by something on one of his jaunts and it swelled up pretty badly. He called the doctor for advice and we think he’s going to be fine, but that was no fun for him. Meanwhile, knitting continues slowly and carefully. I got to the heel part and needed to stop until I had enough service to watch tutorial videos a bunch of times. Great stay in a great campground.

Total miles from Cape Blanco: 101.8, 15.8 mpg, 7 hours 38 min with long stop in Crescent City for shopping and restocking. Site 70 no hookups. No cell. Wifi at kiosk is good. Good free dump with potable water. Campground roads are terrible. Big descent down to campground from 101. No service to the south for about thirty miles. Service comes back pretty soon heading north toward Crescent City. Weirdly good service on Damnation Creek beach.

This is not only our last stop before re-entering California, but also our last stop with hookups for the duration of the summer trip. We fully appreciated our little portable space heater and lived it up with lights and fans and charging of all the things. We also really loved this campground, more so than last time for some reason. It is a windy place for sure. Like I think it’s officially a windy place. It definitely helps to be towing from north to south so that the wind is most likely going to be a tail wind. And it helps to keep mileage distances short from stop to stop, so you can play with travel timing if you’re trying to get under windy weather. A lot of the time though, you can’t avoid gusty days, so I like to just drive slow and stop along the way. For this travel day, Richard got out and biked from campground to campground and it worked out perfectly.

He is nothing if not exceptionally gifted at finding well rated food along the route. This is why I gain weight after a summer trip spent biking and hiking miles and miles. His food finds are just too fun not to do. This one was located in the Langlois Market, about half way between Bandon and Cape Blanco. They advertise “legendary” and “world famous” hot dogs, so I’m curious how many of my international friends have heard of them. They’re damn good, I’ll give them that for sure. They make their own sweet mustard daily and the hot dogs are thick and juicy and flavorful. You can smell them from the parking lot, which is where I parked and eagerly awaited Richard on his bike. I also found an intriguing bottle of Grandpa Jack’s Cranberry Syrup, so we got that.

This campground is nice in that it is five miles off of the highway. Keep that in mind if you are biking to it, but of all of the Oregon State Parks we have stayed at, this one feels more quiet. You are a short walk from a beautiful ocean view, and an easy hike out to the lighthouse. The lighthouse is not open to visitors as it is under very expensive and difficult repairs. Finding people to fix Fresnel lenses and restore historical buildings responsibly is neither cheap, nor fast. They accept donations if you are interested in helping with the restoration project. The information center is very nice and has all kinds of information panels explaining the history of the place.

Our main item on the itinerary for this stop was a do over of a ride that went sideways last time we were here. The ride up Elk Creek Road is one of Jay’s Essential Bike Rides, and it’s a beauty. What we did wrong last time was start biking from the campground. Remember I mentioned the campground is five miles off Highway 101? Well, there is also a short stint on 101 before you ever turn onto Elk Creek Road. Also, the first five or six miles is meh. The spectacular part happens on the last ten miles, after you pass the fish hatchery and the road bends right and into a canyon. There, the river is right by your lefthand side, and little waterfalls surprise you on your right, as they cascade down the lush cliffside and down to the river. The water is crystal clear and alternates between tumbling over rocks, and collecting in wide blue-green swimming pools. When we did this ride the first time, we basically wasted our legs, and my battery, on at least ten miles of not so great riding each way. We miscommunicated when Richard rode way ahead of me, I misjudged my battery capacity, and we hit headwinds on the way back. All of those factors made the ride seriously disappointing and, after we sorted it all out, we vowed to do it again someday.

This time, we communicated all the things the night before, drove to a pull out down Elk Creek Road a bit, and I took my backup battery. What a difference! While in the canyon, the road becomes narrower, but there are very few cars, so we get to ride next to each other and chat. We found a big fat slug in the middle of the road on the way up. I decided to move it because it looked like it was in danger of getting squished. I saw it on the log where I relocated it, which is much happier than seeing a big ol squish mark. We both really loved this ride and I would say you could even start it at the fish hatchery if you wanted to keep it shorter. We did hit headwinds on the way back, but it was so much better just making it back to the car instead of having to slog all the way back up 101 and then five miles to the campground. We could have parked farther along the road and would not have felt like we were missing anything. Having that backup battery means I can stop and take pictures if I want to, and then Turbo power back to Richard. He was doing the ride clipped in, so it’s easier for him to just keep pedaling. There are two primitive campgrounds out there, which I could see being nice if you want to feel away from it all and just spend time in a beautiful river.

For dinner that night, we celebrated with pancakes and sausages, eggs, and Grandpa Jack’s Cranberry Syrup. Yikes that was good! That is seriously some of the best syrup I’ve ever had. It’s perfectly sweet and tastes like fresh cranberries, has the perfect consistency, and really kicks pancakes up a notch. We were so excited, we got a stovetop cast iron griddle to try in Dory so we can facilitate making this dinner again. Richard notes that it is super easy to make pancakes and we don’t need to carry a mix around with us. Holiday gifts this year may very well be themed on cranberry syrup. Our other dinner was a Blue Apron turkey stir fry with Bok Choy, fresh ginger, scallion rice and a Gochujang-mayo sauce. We do eat well out here. Next stop is back in California!

Total miles from Bullard’s Beach: 32.2, 16.0 mpg, 2 hours 45 min with stop for hot dog. Site 30 hookups. Minimal cell from site, but excellent cell from day use. No dump. We dumped at Humbug Mountain for free. Good dump there. Cell service is weird in the campground, but you can get an excellent signal from the bluffs, and just enough in the site to text.

This was another great stop with a dairy based motive. We used to get Bandon Cheddar Cheese regularly when we lived in Oregon. It has since changed its name to Face Rock Cheese Company and it is not that easy to find. Whenever we go through the Oregon coast, we always try to pick up some aged cheddar on the way. Our plan to bike over to the creamery was immediately thwarted by a flat on the rear tire of my e-bike.

Have you ever changed the rear tire on an e-bike? Rear tires are already a pita to remove because of the chain. When you add in the motor, wires connecting the motor, and big weird bolts holding the wheel on, I was ready to find a bike store and have them do it. I remember going to a bike store in Bandon last time and specifically talking to the owner about how hard it is to change the rear tire of an e-bike. Like, I wanted to buy tools to carry with me in case of flats. But after talking to him, it sounded like the best tools to have on hand are snacks so I can wait patiently for Richard to ride back to the car, come pick me up, and take me and my flat e-bike to the nearest bike shop. So we called the place and discovered it is out of business. Sad. But also, now what? I was so convinced of the improbability that we could do this ourselves, I was ready to go with, “Flat tire? Well, I guess I need a new bike.” Fortunately, Richard was more reasonable about the whole thing, and without that much trouble, was able to get the tire off. We did have a spare tube cause I’m prepared for all problems, even if I don’t believe I can solve them. It was tricky lining up the bolts, and it could have been tricky to know how to plug the motor wire back in, but they put little arrows on both sides to help with that. All told, we spent maybe a half an hour problem solving, and we were on our way to cheese.

First, we toodled around the very cute town old town of Bandon and rode down to the Face Rock view point. We took the requisite facie, and rode directly to the Face Rock Creamery. We got the aged cheddar and made a separate trip to the Ray’s grocery store to get makings for nachos. Super fun!

The next day was pretty windy, so instead of doing more biking, we walked out to the beach and lighthouse. Richard did a dunes loop trail in the morning, which taught him he hates sand. I think he bailed mid loop and found the road so that he could stop trudging through all the sand. He says that, in addition to the sand walking, the loop trail is covered with horse shit and bugs. One star review. We avoided that trail and stuck to the pavement until we got to the beach.

There is a fun little gift store inside the lighthouse and I recall making it a plan to see all the lighthouses up and down the Oregon coast. I think we’re missing a couple, but have been to most of them. That could be a fun theme treasure hunt some summer. For dinner, we had a delicious Blue Apron Romesco chicken with red onion, poblano pepper, and scallion couscous. Lovely two night stay!

Total miles from Jessie Honeyman: 66.9, 16.0 mpg, 1 hour 47 min. Site C20 hookups. Great cell for both. Ok dump. Curbed with a sideways notch.

There always comes a point in our travels when we need to work out relationship crap. This is honestly part of the reason we do this, because struggle makes you stronger, and all that. It tends to happen when we are on the final stretch of summer break, and therefore starting to think about returning to real life. It’s not that these are the issues we’re working out, I think it’s just that there is an underlying anticipation of work taking over the unfettered time we have together, so perhaps it puts us both on edge. So far, we’ve managed to work through all of these rough spots and come out the other side more connected, and armed with strategies we can try for the future. I’ll spare you the psychoanalysis we do to get to the root of how we each get spun up, and instead share some of the solutions we arrived at this time around. For one, travel days tend to be a common trigger for unintended mutual irritation, so we have made a pact to try to front load expectations the night before. Like we need to make sure the “white board” is clear, the weather forecast and driving routes have been checked, and plans have been agreed to on the morning exercise needs. When I say “white board,” I mean we need to check in with each other about whether there are any residual unspoken gripes, even small ones, that need to get aired and cleansed; like those stupid small moments, “Remember three days ago when you shook your head? Yeah, that pissed me off.” An apology, clarification, recognition, are all that’s needed to wipe it off, but if you don’t, those things build up. Travel stress amplifies everything, so there’s our new protocol: check in the night before, especially before travel days. And secondly, we both acknowledge that it is harder to stay connected at home than it is when spending all our time together in small, acoustically accessible, spaces. We’re going to try building some habits at home after dinner, where we intentionally talk to each other without phones, or yarn, in our hands. It’s so easy to let that time slip away and so important to make the effort to pay attention to each other. That’s it. Nothing deep or TED Talk worthy. But those discussions were a big part of this particular stay.

What kicked all of this off was the spur of the moment change of plans to get a really early start leaving Tillamook in order to avoid forecasted wind. Richard thought he would be ok skipping a morning walk, but that turned out not to be the case. That all went according to the change in plans, but it came at a cost. In any case, we arrived quite early and, as anticipated, could not get into our site yet. I knew there was a nice Day Use area at Woahink Lake and that was a great place to park and knit while Richard blew off his I-don’t-like-to-sit-in-the-car steam. I used the inverter to heat up the leftover grilled cheese and fries, reminding myself that the inverter was a worth it expenditure. Then I just worked on angry sock knitting. I am super proud of having learned how to use a magic loop to knit teeny tiny thready yarn into a rib stitch sock cuff. Knitting also turns out to be an exceptionally good activity to do when miffed. Notice the slogan on the project bag: Knitting, because murder is wrong. That is so real.

Jessie Honeyman is a huge campground, and yet all of the sites have really nice privacy and plenty of space. There are so many family friendly activities in this park, and there were certainly a lot of families taking advantage of it. We took a nice walk past the lily pond lake and then over to Cleawox Lake. There, you can rent kayaks or paddle boats. I do believe I’m going to go the entire summer without taking my boat out, but that’s ok with me. It has not been hot enough to feel the urge to be on the water, and that is a good thing. Route planning to end up on the coast in July was brilliant. We have also successfully avoided wildfire smoke. I want to remember this for the future because returning home via the coast also means you are mostly traveling with the wind. We didn’t use the AC once all summer and are not likely to need to before home. We are the smart party.

We got in a nice bike ride and hike the next day up to Sweet Creek Falls. Richard knew ahead of time that part of the trail would be closed, but you can access almost all of the falls viewpoints if you continue a half mile to the Falls Trailhead. The bike ride was really nice and mostly gentle, meandering through farmlands and private residences. We drove up Highway 126 to get to Sweet Creek Road. This begins in the couple of businesses town of Mapleton. There is a market there which is nothing to go out of one’s way to explore, and a couple of store fronts that used to be businesses. That must be a tough location to try to maintain a business. We parked the car at the turnoff and got our bikes out.

The ride is about eleven miles to the second trailhead, where there is a small parking area. The trail itself is immediately rewarding. There are sort of constant little falls all the way down, with some of them being named on Guru Maps. It’s obvious when you get to the closure why it was a very good call to close that sucker down tight. The section of the trail directly above Annice Falls and Punchbowl Canyon Falls is on a suspended catwalk, precariously attached to a rocky cliff. We could tell what must have happened based on all the scraped up dirt on the road right above that spot. Clearly there was a landslide that went down from the road, over the cliff, and right onto that catwalk. Without the suspended portion, the river is too rocky and swift for a trail to get around the bend. I’ll be impressed if they are able to rebuild that structure and we will check in the future to keep tabs on it. Even without that section, it’s a beautiful trail. There are some downed trees you have to get around, and it’s rooty a lot of the way, but very worth the one mile out and back from the upper trailhead.

On the way back, we stopped at the Safeway in Florence to get a couple of things. We didn’t go into town this time around, but there are lots of restaurants, stores, and dessert options. Nothing was grabbing us, so we stayed in the campground. It’s a super nice campground and I’d come back. There is a nice hike to Woahink Lake that Richard did the next morning. The lake is lovely to look at, and I imagine nice to boat on. Someday perhaps. Service is spotty in the campground, but we could both hit service from this site. I think it helps to be toward the front and closer to 101. Otherwise, you’re in a service dip. The sites are spacious and private. Can’t complain at all.

Total miles from Barview Jetty: 134.9, 16.6 mpg, 3 hours 30 min. Site 68 hookups. Ok dump, but water tends to pool. Ok cell for both, but stronger signal closer to 101. Good cell at Woahink Lake Day Use. Water spigot in site.

This stop had one job, which it tends to do very well. That job is to be located relatively close to Tillamook Creamery. It’s not a far drive from Ilwaco, and check in time is 3:30. That left us wondering what to do to kill time before arriving. Richard went on a long walk in the morning to try to find the North Gate Trail, which was a good use of time. Still, we had to check out by 11, so we looked for things to do along the way.

We’ve seen signs for the Lewis & Clark Visitor Center, on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. There’s an interpretive center, RV parking, and enough historical exhibits to keep us entertained for about two hours. I’m glad we went. It’s informative for sure, with a replica of Fort Clatsop (where the party spent their first winter), and docents performing reenactments of some of the daily chores the explorers would have done. For example. we got to see a live demonstration of rendering fat over a fire in order to make candles. That was cool. We watched the informational movie and hit the road, aiming for a 3ish arrival. Nailed that one, but also unintentionally timed the travel just as the winds started picking up. I’m ok with a tail wind, and even a direct headwind, but crosswinds are my nemesis and it was a rather tense tow down to Rockaway Beach.

We made it nicely timed so that they would let us in just a wee bit early. We wasted no time unhitching and made a bee line for the creamery. If it’s not the 4th of July, this campground is sort of meh. The sites are fully serviced, but slotty and packed in tightly. You can get to the beach and that would be the thing to do here. We were not there for recreation purposes, so we just went straight to Tillamook for a late lunch/early dinner.

If you’ve been to the creamery, you know. In addition to a fine and dandy view of the cheese making process, Tillamook Creamery sells all their ice cream, plus a selection of savory lunch or dinner options that showcase cheese. What’s not to love about foods that showcase cheese?

We have been looking forward to the mac & cheese, served in a small cast iron pan, for a long time. It definitely held up to the anticipation. I want to make a note for my future creamery visiting self: Get 1 order of mac & cheese and get an add on side of French fries. That’ll be plenty. Waiting in a long line to order dinner and seeing how cute and small those cast iron pans are, I tend to question whether splitting that will be enough. This time I ordered a grilled cheese, which comes with fries, just to make sure there was enough. It was way too much. The grilled cheese was fun, but not much different from any old grilled cheese, and need not have been purchased. I did save half, plus at least half of the French fries, for a nice inverter powered microwave lunch the next day, so it wasn’t a waste. But next time, just get the fries.

The ice cream also deserves a note to future self. Get the single scoop in a bowl with hot fudge. I had planned on doing that, but when the ice cream dispenser asked me if I wanted the “Brownie Sundae Special,” like my husband had gotten, I couldn’t very well turn that down, could I? And yes, the brownie bits were really high end brownies. And yes, the hot fudge was super thick excellent hot fudge. But honestly, I thought I might die right there. It was so much food. I couldn’t finish the ice cream, and that says a lot.

We walked around the upstairs for a while, where you can see people actually processing huge blocks of cheddar. There are informational kiosks everywhere telling you what all the equipment does. It’s a fun experience, especially if you are working on finishing way too much ice cream while you walk. There is a vast gift shop downstairs and we identified the fabulous fudge as Coops Hot Fudge. That is worth a special order for sure.

Leaving the busy creamery, we drove into town to do our weekly shopping. We saw an incredible deal on Tillamook ice cream. It’s a good thing Dory’s freezer really can’t keep ice cream frozen or my declaration of never indulging in ice cream again might have fallen by the wayside within minutes of saying it. Great stop always. We will never pass through this area without indulging.

Total miles from Eagle’s Nest: 74.6, 15.4 mpg, 3 hours 47 min with stop at Lewis & Clark. Site 32 full hookups. Good cell for both. Dump $10.

Our first order of business on leaving Whidbey Island was to try to get on the ferry as a stand by. I don’t know why I completely forgot about making reservations ahead of time, but by the time it dawned on us we’d be needing a ferry ride, the only available slots on the day of departure were at 10pm. Luckily, they only sell about 60% of the tickets ahead of time and they are extremely efficient at packing ferry boats. I skipped my morning shower so we could get there as early as possible and we were on the 8:30 ferry with no trouble at all. Not that I’m advocating some new kind of lifestyle where I just play everything loosey goosey and expect things to work out. That is unlike me and would result in a nervous system breakdown pretty quickly.

It was an easy drive down the scenic Hood Canal valley. We noted again that Dosewallips would be a nice campground to stay in at some point. We also took the opportunity to dump our tanks at Potlatch State Park Campground. That one would also be a possibility but it seemed like the sites around the back of the loop might be tight. I didn’t really explore, but I did see a sign warning of maximum vehicle length of 22 feet beyond a certain point.

Highway 101 is generally a pleasant highway all up and down through Washington and Oregon. It curves a great deal to run through Olympic National Park and we did not follow it that direction. Instead, we took the more direct route of 101 south, to 108 to McCleary, and then 8 and 12 to Aberdeen where we rejoined 101. 101 is confusing. The most exciting part of the drive was seeing a sign saying “Fresh Cookies 1/4 Mile Ahead.” We’ve passed by a million fresh fruit and vegetable stands. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fresh cookie stand before though. So yeah, we had to do that.

Once again, I was not able to reserve a site down below at Cape Disappointment State Park, but it’s really sinking in on this trip how much we enjoy electric hookups. We have two perfectly good lithium batteries and 400w solar panels and can do just fine for a couple of days without needing to charge, but when we have the hookups, we tend to run fans, use heaters to dry things out, and turn on lights with wild abandon. It’s a level of easy that can really help when traveling for long stints. For weekends, it honestly does not matter. When you’re going on the second month on the road, it’s just super nice to not even have to think about being super fast when getting something out of the fridge. In any case, this is all to say that I still enjoyed staying at this campground, even if it is not as scenic. Also, there is no cell service down at the state park, and that too has an impact that is subtle, but adds up.

Richard went out and walked the Discovery Trail while I relaxed and got back to attempting to knit socks. I have this teeny tiny strandy sock yarn and teeny tiny thin circular knitting needles. The last time I attempted sock knitting, it was the final straw in over extending my hands because I was death gripping the needles to keep the itty bitty yarn threads from slipping off the tips. I’ve been afraid to come back to it, but I’ve gotten more practice with our daughter’s scarf, and my hands are feeling much better. I’m following a “vanilla sock” pattern from someone called “The Crazy Sock Lady” and I’ve watched her video tutorial many times. I was excited to come back to it and I am five rows in to a ribbed cuff. I frogged it once already, but I’m getting better! Richard was out walking something like ten miles and was gone for over two hours. He kept texting me to make sure that was ok and I kept telling him to shush because I was concentrating. This is definitely a helpful hobby.

We had one full day in the area and we just did a repeat of our last trip. The Discovery Trail is one of the best biking experiences we’ve had. It’s not all that long, but it weaves and bobs along the shore for seven or so miles. You can make side trips into town where there are lost of touristy places to buy things or get a bite to eat in Long Beach or Seaside. To get to the Discovery Trail, there is a section that starts in Ilwaco, which is where this campground is located. It rolls steeply up and down through deep woods and goes over a fun boardwalk section. You’d miss all of that if you started from the state park campground.

We did an out and back to the North Head Lighthouse, just to see it. There are some historic houses there that you can actually stay in, plus a gift shop. We were just there for the views and we turned around and rode back to the start of the beachy part. The day began overcast and misty, but on the way back, we got beautiful blue skies and nice views.

No blog post would be complete without a bakery mention. There were two on this trip. One was in Long Beach called Dylan’s Cottage Bakery. There we split a chocolate raised glazed and an old fashioned. The second one was Sadie and Josie’s Bakery and it’s right on the way out to the Cranberry Museum. Sadie and Josie’s is really incredible and they offer you so many samples! I wanted to get something, but it had to be small enough to carry in a backpack and would last through three more weeks of travel. I settled on their almond roca and it is wonderful.

The Cranberry Museum is worth a trip if you are anywhere in the area. It would be a sight to see the harvesting of cranberries that happens every October. Maybe that will be a post retirement trip. Growing cranberries is a very complicated endeavor and their museum shows all the different kinds of equipment and growing techniques they have used over the years. For example, in the 1920’s researcher D.J. Crowley tried to convince farmers about the benefits of wet vs dry farming. At the time, most farmers did not believe that using water could protect plants from frost. Decades later, many of his recommendations started being implemented. It’s an interesting history and it’s all laid out nicely in the museum.

We left with a bottle of cranberry syrup and went back to Long Beach. Richard wanted to get his hair cut and couldn’t resist trying the place located next to the largest frying pan in the world. While he did that, I grabbed a cup of clam chowder across the street at Captain Bob’s Chowder Sisters.

Before riding back up the steep climb to the campground, we checked out “downtown” Ilwaco. It has a cute but short strip of inns and businesses along the water. We noticed businesses advertising cleaning and packaging of fish, so clearly fishing is the main form of recreation in town. There was certainly a lot of action around the docks.

From here to home, I think all but one of the campgrounds will be repeat stays with likely repeats of previous activities. This repeat was just as fun as the first time. We even made pancakes and used our newly bought syrup to try. Richard is now motivated to make his own cranberry syrup so he can make it more liquidy and less like cranberry sauce. Sounds like a good project for home.

Total miles from Fort Ebey: 194.3, 15.9 mpg, 6 hours 5 min. Site 21 full hookups. Good sewer in site. No dump because all sites have hookups. Great cell for both. Laundry, pool, showers.

When I tell people how long we spend on the road camping in the summers, one of the first questions I get is: “Together?” The next question is often: “How do you do laundry?” What people rarely ask, but should, is: “How do you defrost the freezer?” Question one is kind of why we do this, and we took care of questions two and three on this stop. After about a month, the little freezer in our battery run mini fridge gets crusted over with enough ice that it is hard to get the ice trays in and out. To defrost it, you have to turn it off and wait about an hour. It’s good to time that so you don’t have a lot of things that will go bad, and since we were down an uncooked chicken breast after the border crossing, and generally depleted on fridge food, this was a good time. We had targeted a Safeway in Bellingham, WA as a replenish stop and verified online that it had Chobani yogurts in stock. Richard has a Chobani every day and really prefers those over what is available in Canada. We stocked exactly enough Chobanis for the duration of our entire Canadian stay, relinquishing some fridge space normally designated for bread, in order to fit them all. I needed to blog, so I sat in Dory while things melted and Richard went and found a little pond trail to walk on. We stored whatever was cold in an insulated foldable box thing and put a bag of ice inside. It works pretty well, although we did later decide to ditch the frozen shrimp that had not stayed frozen. After everything was wiped down, we turned the fridge back on and filled it all to proper traveling capacity with a nice shopping trip. There is also a Trader Joe’s just down the road, so we got our preferred string cheese again, and some familiar salads for dinner.

It was late in the afternoon by the time we arrived at the campground and got unhitched. It’s a very nice campground and I got a super nice pull through site. One of the things we were looking forward to, besides seeing my life long friend, is getting all of the things I ordered online and sent to her house during the trip. Included was a replacement power plug for Dory’s backup camera. Somehow it lost a piece on the pluggy part, but happily, that is something you can order. I did pretty well backing into sites without it, and this site turned out to be a pull through, so I didn’t even need it. It will be nice to have it back though. I also got an expensive thumb brace. I am happy to report that it has been really helpful and I am finally feeling like my hands are returning to normal. Usually, the “gold standard” expensive equipment is the way to go when you’re talking about injury supports, so I’m glad I got this thing. It has been about a six week recovery period and I wonder if that would have gone faster if I’d splurged sooner.

We headed over to Anne’s right away and she was generous enough to offer the use of her washer and dryer without even being asked. She’s super awesome that way. She lives in an adorable house in Coupeville, which is centrally located on Whidbey Island and just a ten minute drive from the campground. We chatted and got caught up while whites were washing and made plans for the next day.

The next day was dedicated to doing touristy things around town. Coupeville is an extremely picturesque historic town, featured actually in the movie “Practical Magic.” There are cute shops, a bakery (which sadly is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays), a few restaurants, and a great ice cream place. Richard walked over from the campground and met me downtown. We then went to Anne’s where she drove us out to a gorgeous bluff trail and historic site.

As is common with most early settler historic sites, many of the surviving (or replicated) buildings, have to do with fortifying against attacks from the native people whose land was being taken. There are four block houses on the island, which are sort of like log cabin keeps. There are also some historic houses and informational kiosks located in Ebey’s Landing State Park. We got in a lovely hike up the bluffs to a viewpoint where you can see all the way to Olympic National Park. Off in the distance, you can just make out Vancover Island, and on a clear day, Anne says you can sometimes see Mount Rainier. Great trail with access to the beach if you either walk or park down below.

Post hike, it was time for ice cream. You normally get three small scoops unless you are under ten or over fifty. If you meet the age requirement, you can ask for a single scoop. And while we met the age requirement, we were not going to shortchange ourselves and commit to only one flavor. I got mint chip, coffee almond fudge, and huckleberry cheesecake on a waffle cone. This place is in the top tier of ice cream places and worth any size line. We happened to be there on a slow day, but would have waited a good long time if need be.

After hanging out and doing a load of colors, we walked downtown and grabbed dinner at Molka Xete. This is a Mexican restaurant with an interesting menu. You can get five tacos with different meat fillings, but we went with something called a Sincronizada, which is two flour tortillas filled with your choice of meat, beans, cheese, guacamole, and cilantro. It was really good! The chips appeared to be freshly made too, which is always fun.

The next day we all drove town to the town of Langley. This is a larger town that is sort of the main tourist destination on the island. People come for day trips from Seattle and often end up in this town. It’s hip and proudly progressive, with signs of protest in most of the storefront windows. That was nice to see. There is a cool glass blowing shop, where you can blow your own small glass things or purchase any of the incredibly beautiful creations. I was tempted by the garden decorations in swirls of blue or green, but couldn’t imagine how I could get anything home.

Our obligatory food investigations included a hot slice of pepperoni from Village Pizza, a slice of Marrionberry pie from Whidbey Pies, and some chocolate covered marshmallows on a stick from Sweet Mona’s Chocolate Boutique. Whidbey Pies supplies a variety of pies for the whole island and their only storefront is in Langley. The filling was amazing and the crust nice and crisp.

We let Anne get back to her busy new job and we checked out South Whidbey State Park. This place was a campground, and in fact, we really thought it was still a campground. There is a dump there and we’ve contemplated using it, but we’ve also contemplated staying there, which you for sure can’t. It’s kind of a ghost campground where you can see where all the infrastructure is, like an entry kiosk, water spigots long since shut off, and evidence of campsites, even ones with hookups, being slowly reclaimed by nature. We were super curious as to why this nice campground got closed. A passing ranger answered the question by explaining that a tree fell and killed a visitor back in 2012. A study was done to determine whether it was safe to keep allowing overnight camping and it turned out many of the trees were diseased and it would be too impactful to remove all of them. So they closed the park to camping, but kept it open for day use. And left the dump station.

There are some nice trails in the park, one called the Hobbit Trail. They have some viewpoints of the water in a couple of spots, but are mostly forest walks. There is a trail that used to go down to the beach, but the stairs got washed away and they are not planning to replace them. You could scramble, at your own risk, but we were fine stopping at the big red hazard sign. If you combine all of the out and backs, the Discovery Loop, and a visit to a huge 500 year old Cedar, it’s around two and a half miles. It’s a shame you can’t still camp there, but I guess that’s better than getting squished by a tree.

We had another really lovely visit with Anne on a beautiful island. She has made such a nice home for herself in such a perfect location. The weather is always nice on the island and there is plenty to do to entertain guests. We were thinking about what we would do to entertain guests at our place, and besides a super cool backyard campground and slushies to offer, we would pretty much suggest a BART ride into San Francisco. We have a nice bike path and a lovely reservoir, but living in a tourist destination would be pretty cool. Well done Anne. So fun to see you every couple of years. Please come visit let us make you slushies. You are, of course, most welcome to use our laundry facilities.

Total miles from Vancouver: 125.9, 16.2 mpg, 7 hours 25 min (with border crossing and stop at Safeway to defrost freezer). Site 43 no hookups. Ok cell for both in site. No dump, no solar. Nice bluff trail around campground.

Well that was an incredible stay in a place that has everything. In fact, it had way more than we anticipated, or intended. It turns out there’s this thing called the “World Cup.” And it turns out we timed our stay exactly during the period when Vancouver was hosting some of these games. It also turns out Canada’s team had made it to the final rounds. “Historic,” apparently. We did not know any of that, but it explains a lot. For example, it explains the insane amount of traffic and the 3 1/2 hours it took to get to and through the city. It explains the premium level surge pricing I cluelessly paid on the reservations. It also explains why there were so many soccer ball shaped things everywhere, like, doughnuts for example. It all makes sense now. We have learned much. On our way out of town, and the country, we learned much about agriculture inspections and what you should really not try to take across the border. So much learning.

Our travel day from Hope to Vancouver was super chill because I took back roads. Yay me. I should have turned off avoid highways as we got closer to town though, because rather than routing me over the bridge that Trans Canada Highway 1 goes over, it took me on the bridge that goes right smack through the center of downtown Vancouver. That was unnecessary to say the least, but it wasn’t traveling at highway speeds with trucks on my tail, so that’s something.

You can’t beat the Capilano River RV Park for location. It is at the foot of the bridge that takes you into North Vancouver and was super easy to use to get in and out of the city. On bikes, that is. With just one wrong turn into a shopping mall, we found the RV park and started to get set up in our full hookup site. It was raining on arrival, which makes everything just a little harder to deal with, but right away we noticed the hookups were on the wrong side of Dory and appeared to be shared with the site that butts up with ours in an uncomfortably tight way. In fact, in order to make room for whoever is camping there, we’d have to pull Dory forward quite a bit. And there is no way she’d be reaching the sewer. And even if she could, we could see that whoever was in that adjacent site had a whole sewer hose system they were expecting to keep plugged in, as it were. We walked back to the office to explain the situation, which the guy at the desk didn’t really seem to understand, but he moved us into the one other site that was available. Did I mention this was World Cup week? We hadn’t finished the setting up process, but we had unhitched. I used the caravan mover to put Dory back on the hitch and we relocated to a back-in site around the corner. That was fine. It’s a slotty set up at this park, designed for big rigs, with no privacy or anything, but we were expecting that. The one thing was that when we tried to dump, the sewer was backed up, so the experience was…. unpleasant. I’ll leave it at that, and state for the record that they had someone come out and fix it before the next time we needed to dump, and everything was fine. I am just now realizing I didn’t take a single picture of Dory in the site, or the campground. Scenic is it not, but for convenience, I would totally stay in exactly that place again. Location, location, location. And they give you free little bags of freshly popped popcorn.

We were both pretty fried at that point, and proud of how we kept our cool through a bumpy entry. I wasn’t going to be into making dinner with our one remaining chicken breast, and that came up later when we crossed the border back into the U.S. Damn chicken I was too tired to cook. We decided to drive a short distance over to a shopping mall where there were many options for dinner. We chose Zaatar w Zeit and it was a good meal. I think it’s a chain place that serves Lebanese dishes. We then just walked around the mall. There was a Whole Foods and a well rated bakery to check out. We got a chocolate croissant at Angus T and it was very good. We could tell it would have been flakier when freshly baked, and Richard confirmed that by walking over and getting an almond croissant fresh the next morning. That one exploded with flakiness in the bag when he cut it in half. Great place! We wrapped up the day with a walk in the Park Royal Mall and a quick stop at Purdy’s Chocolatier. Their fancy truffles were out of our price range preferences, but they also serve ice cream that you can have them dip in their white or dark chocolate for an outstanding treat.

The next day, we hit the bike trails in Stanley Park. That was one of our targeted activities and it’s a five star experience. Going across the Lion’s Gate Bridge the first time is quite exhilarating, but you get used to it. You cannot beat Vancouver for bike friendliness. We’ve never seen an urban city put so much smart design into making bicyclists safe getting in and around a city. Really well planned. On exiting the bridge, I will say it was not straightforward to find the Seawall Trail, and it seems that if you don’t want to walk your bikes down a steep dirt pathway, you have to go a fair ways riding the park road until you come to “Second Beach.” There you can catch the Seawall Trail and take it all the way around the peninsula. It is so worth it. We did a full loop so we could see all of it. Bikes travel one way on a raised sidewalk, while pedestrians have an adjacent paved walkway. No cars. It makes for the world’s best bike ride, right along the water. You get views of passing ships, a lighthouse, little islands, a totem pole display, wildlife, and a beautiful little lagoon on the south side. That’s an E ticket ride and I highly recommend it.

We took a complete break from any and all calorie counting for four full days and just dove in to all the culinary experiences we could pack in, both in terms of time, and stomach capacity. There is a place called Nine Dumplings Nine Dishes that serves rainbow colored filled potsticker type dumplings. We got the assortment of nine flavors containing either pork or chicken filling, and oh man, were they good! Then it was off to find another top rated doughnut place. This one was called Lucky’s Doughnuts and it is located in the 49th Cafe on Main Street. They were selling chocolate custard filled soccer ball doughnuts, which was another clue that we were there during a soccer themed time. Oh good lord, you guys. I know I’m talking a lot about food in this post, but you need to get yourself to Vancouver and get a chocolate filled soccer ball doughnut like right now. The custard was barely contained inside the light and fluffy doughy goodness. Sweet glaze and cocoa powder topped to look like a soccer ball. So damn good.

We of course had to work off all this sugar, so we continued biking along, either on protected and dedicated bike trails, or very well marked bike routes, all the way over another bridge and to the south side university area. There is an anthropology museum there and we had discounts we could use. The UBC Museum of Anthropology is a treasure trove of artifacts from all of the world, but it focuses on indigenous First Nations people in the region. They have an impressive display of totem poles, which I didn’t know until now, are exclusive to First Nations people of the Pacific Northwest. There are lots of kiosks explaining the history and how these house poles represent the passing of spiritual and worldly rights down family lines. They perform Potlatch ceremonies, which had been expressly forbidden until recently. There are quotes and first hand accounts from native people explaining the importance of these traditions and the deep meaning they carry across generations. In celebration of this rich history, we had a serving of “bannock,” which is a sort of biscuit that is traditionally fried, but is baked in the museum cafe, and very much like just a regular biscuit. Authentically themed carbs are always a must do. We had enough energy left to get ourselves to dinner at a Thai restaurant in the south district called Unchai Thai. We had the drunken noodles and it was excellent.

The next day was equally impressive in terms of how many food stops we hit on our eat-your-way-through-Vancouver tour. The day started with Richard going out and getting morning doughnuts from Goldie’s. One was a strawberry cream filled and the other a classic old fashioned. That got us sugared up enough to again ride across the bridge and try to find a faster way down to the Seawall Trail. We did find an unpaved, pretty steep trail that was navigable, even with walking an e-bike downhill, that lands at the parking area for starting the Seawall Trail. It’s an ok access point, but I would never want to walk my e-bike back up. It did give us a nice ride before heading into downtown to find yet another bakery. This time it was a place called L’Atelier Patisserie, which was said to have had some of the best croissants in town. I’m still thinking about how good their double chocolate and butter croissants were. The flakiness was not too explosive and they were airy and yet substantial at the same time. Delicious.

The trail systems, as I have mentioned, are really incredible. They have fully paved and protected multi-use trails that will get you most anywhere you want to go along the edges near the water. When the bike paths are not separate from cars, like when cutting across town, there are clearly marked routes on all of the street signs, so you know which streets are more bike friendly. Tourist information booth people happily hand you comprehensive maps of the system of color coded routes through the city. While navigating cities is still challenging, we were able to find all of our target spots with no trouble, even when they were in the heart of downtown.

We moved to the old part of town, past the stadium and Science World, which is currently sporting a gigantic soccer ball in case you have forgotten about the Word Cup. Gas Town is the historic area, with lots of brick buildings, a working Steamclock, and tons of bars and places to shop and eat. Because we were fully observing “calories don’t count” week, we stepped in to Chocolats Favoris, a great chocolate company from Quebec that sells tins of chocolate sauce you can heat up and pour over ice cream. We each got (very small) ice cream cones dipped in dark chocolate and they were fabulous. I left Richard to stare at the steam clock while I found a public restroom, and came back to him handing me half of a lemon doughnut from Lee’s Doughnuts. He said it was unreasonable to leave him alone in front of a doughnut shop, especially one mentioned on the “best doughnuts in Vancouver” list, and I’ll give him that one.

I wanted to immerse myself in the whole World Cup thing, at least briefly. I mean, it did seem like sort of a big deal to a lot of people. The city had closed off to cars an area of something like six blocks on one of the most central streets, Granville Street, in honor of hosting the event. I read that they have decided to extend the closure actually, as it seems to be good for foot traffic business. This appeared to be Party Central, so we went and checked it out. It was packed with people and adorned with the Canadian flag everywhere. There were street performers and booths to buy things, and lots of raucous laughter and ambient music. I gather the Canadian team had lost their game that day, so I can only imagine what it would have been like had they won. As it was, there was a sort of impromptu parade by fans of the Moroccan team, the team that had beaten Canada. That’s some balls there, to march through the streets of Vancouver singing and chanting, surrounded by thousands of crestfallen, red jersey wearing fans. Canadians are nothing if not polite and hospitable though, so they were probably counting on that.

We rolled on back to the area where giant cruise ships take off and really expensive hotels boast incredible views above the water. Sea planes take off and land constantly, as do all of the cruise tour boats. It’s busy and exciting and as packed as Disneyland on a school holiday. We road through it all, aiming for the Aquarium in Stanley Park. Those tourist booklets come in handy and we had a discount for this place as well. It’s a small but very nice aquarium, with a nice rain forest exhibit, complete with a sloth and some little monkeys. They had two octopi, but they were both hiding from all the people, which I totally get. They also had a tank with Dory and Nemo fish, so of course, I had to take pictures of them. And lastly, just past the seals, there were some fluffy floating sea otters. It was nappy time for them, so we watched them just float around together, hands up, warming in the sun.

That was another big day. Somehow we managed to be hungry for dinner, so we drove to a place called Cornelia Fine Tacos in North Vancouver. This place was fun! It is a totally no contact concept, where you place your order on a touch pad, watch a screen that shows when your order is ready, and collect it from trays that move on a sort of conveyor belt. It’s a Gen Xer’s dream come true where you don’t even have to respond to a waitress asking how your day is. I got a mole chicken and al pastor taco with rice and beans and it was all super tasty. Richard had the tamal de muerto and it was delicious. We also shared a sweet corn ice cream, which I was surprised I liked. It did taste exactly like how you’d think corn ice cream would taste, and somehow, it made for a damn fine dessert. Yes, it’s a hip and fun concept, but the food was also really good.

Our last full day in town was a bit less city mouse, and more country mouse. Taking the bike trail westward, we passed through some fun neighborhoods with open markets and, you guessed it, bakeries. There was one, Savary Island Pie Company, that made all kinds of pies and scones, plus lots of different kinds of loaves and sweets. We stopped there and picked up a chicken basil sandwich to go and I strapped the box to my bike rack as a picnic lunch. It’s a long, hilly ride going that direction, and not as much of it is dedicated bike path. There are bike lanes along the main drag, Marine Drive, and that was safe enough. Eventually, the bike lanes disappear and you are just riding the road. It’s not a heavily trafficked street, nor is it conducive to high speeds, so it is a popular ride for bikies.

We stopped at Lighthouse Park and locked our bikes. We did a nice loop of around three miles through a dense forest with short out and back viewpoints to see the water. The first viewpoint designated as a lighthouse viewpoint really isn’t. There are too many trees there to see anything. If you go to the next one however, you can see it clearly. You can’t walk down to the lighthouse. There are so many islands and land masses out there in the maze of waterways, I’m not totally sure which islands we were seeing. I do believe we were looking at Vancouver Island in the distance, directly across from us. There are some small ones with homes built on them, a tiny one with a lighthouse, and larger islands with, I assume, whole towns. We sat on the rocks at a view point and ate our chicken sandwich. Man that was good. The chicken was flavorful and tender, while the thick slices of bread were toasted with butter and made the whole thing remind me of those perfect grilled cheese sandwiches. They make those too, but I didn’t think that would hold up. We’ll have to go back some day and try them fresh.

The forests have the deep dark feel of a redwood forest, and the cedars do resemble redwoods. We saw Junipers clinging to rocks on the edge of the land, and new growth trees covering old cut stumps like some kind of alien parasite. There is an accessible section to the trail, but once you are off that, it is rocky and rooty and steep in some places. Easy enough for me, but I was watching where I was stepping carefully. There are porta potties at the parking area, which is paid parking. They do enforce that by the way, because we saw an official parking officer go through and check license plates.

Satisfied with a nice hike, we turned back with our bikes and rode Marine Drive until we got to Temper Chocolate Pastry. Here we acquired a nice Canadian gift for our daughter, plus we had to sample a banana and a lemon ginger truffle, for, you know, quality assurance. These are those truffles that look more like works of art than anything edible. We confirmed they are in fact quite good.

We thought for a moment about making our own dinner, but then, nah. Instead, we tried a place that was walking distance from the campground, in the Park Royal shopping center. I’d never heard of Peri Peri chicken, but I guess it’s a popular Portuguese specialty. Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken is a chain and they serve half chickens with a spicy rub and hot chili spiced sauce. We watched the cook grill a whole bunch of half chickens and ours was fall off the bone fantastic. For our last culinary hurrah, we walked around the mall a bit, gaped at the variety of asian food items you can buy at Osaka Market, and landed again at Purdy’s Chocolatier for a small banana ice cream scoop dipped in dark chocolate. What a finale!

One footnote I will include in this post: next time we need to be more careful about what food we have when we cross the border. You’d think us Californians would be more savvy, considering how many agricultural checks we go through coming back into the state. We forgot really, and the culprit that got us sent to the agriculture inspection line was the uncooked chicken. There is a current outbreak of African Swine Fever, so if you say the word “chicken,” you’re gonna get stopped. All told, we were delayed at the border while waiting for someone to go through our refrigerator for less than an hour. They confiscated grapes and the chicken, and that was it. We didn’t have all that much food left, and we didn’t mind really. We do understand the efforts to stop things like invasive insects and infectious livestock diseases. We’re just kicking ourselves for not having thought about that, like at all. For the future, we have a website we can check to see what items are on the most wanted list and make sure we don’t have any of those. Here is the link: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/traveling-with-ag-products

They say Vancouver is known for three things: 1) natural beauty, 2) rain, 3) great food. Yes, yes, and yes to all three. We can’t complain about #2 because we mostly got nice weather. The last day in fact was all blue skies and quite warm. The food was off the charts, as I assume my weight will be once I gain the courage to use the scale again. Don’t care, it was worth it. It is honestly the best thought out city I can think of in terms of being bike and pedestrian friendly. For a big city to commit to so many non car routes, it must have taken a huge amount of planning and negotiation. That’s urban engineering done right. It makes for such an enjoyable experience and creates a whole economy around bike and scooter rentals. Businesses thrive from all the foot traffic and the city can support a dazzling array of international restaurants, shops, and services, making more and more people want to come. It was a World Cup time to visit, but I was amazed at how easy it was to see the whole city without a car. It was four packed days and we really loved it. So glad we came, but maybe next time we don’t have to time it so we’re there at the same time as the entirety of Canadian soccer fandom.

Total miles from Holiday RV, Hope: 98.6, 3 hours 35 min (tons of traffic in the city), 15.8 mpg. Site 81 full hookups (put first in 26, but hookups on wrong side and shared with 27). Great cell, great wifi. Laundry, pool, vending machines, popcorn in the office. Sewer in site was backed up when we got there, but they cleaned it out and it worked fine. It’s at the back of the site, but low down. Good electric and water at the back of the site. Dump station is free and kind of just a depression at the curb by the pool.