Richmond, BC, Canada to Cannon Beach, Oregon
The Gypsy Wagon is all ready to go. First stop is the Duty Free, of course. Sadly they no longer carry pipe tobacco at the Peace Arch crossing. Dad will have to continue his agricultural experiments with growing tobacco. Sadly we were liberated of our clementines immediately upon arriving at the border. I was hoping they would not notice. Too bad. We did find a stray basket of strawberries under the back seat of the truck. They must have been left after my last shopping trip to Costco. Bonus!
 |
| It is time to go! Nice housecoat, Dad. |
 |
| The Peace Arch border crossing into the USA. |
 |
Lunch time. Walmart parking lots make the best rest areas as there is plenty of room to park and put the slide out.
|
After bouncing our way south along the I-5 through Seattle and Tacoma we take a right at Olympia and head west along Highways 101, 8 and 12. Note to self, next time get in the HOV lane north of Seattle and south of Seattle as this lane goes on forever! It would not have saved us time; however, it does make for more peaceful driving. There is no lane to your left and no one is cutting in and out from the right.
We also might have avoided directly running over a rather large piece of discarded semi-trailer tire tread. That was fun. The vehicle in front of us caused this mammoth hunk of rubber to settle directly in line with the driver side tires. With a semi on one side and cars on the other there would be no lane changes. So, brace yourself, we are going over it.
That ended well. Thumpity-bump and on we went thankfully.
These smaller highways west of Olympia made for much nicer driving, too. We pulled off in Montesano, WA for gas. It was a very tight exit so I was not super surprised to hear a metallic clang just as the Gypsy Wagon was pulled halfway out of the gas station and on to the road. Put the 4-ways on, apply the emergency brake and hop out to retrieve my equalizer bar that is laying in the middle of the road, open the back door of the truck and toss the greasy business into your sister's waiting arms. Drive to a safe parking space, hoist up the trailer and get that hitch back in order. No problem.
 |
| This is what it looked like in the middle of the road but no I do have some restraint and waited until we were safely parked before taking pictures. I have some sense, you know. |
 |
| Gloves on, blocks in place under the hitch, crank it up and get things back where they are supposed to be. |
 |
| Apparently, 'This is the hot spot to pick up chicks'! No, no luck getting picked up today outside the local farm supply store :). |
The Gypsy Wagon turned south from Montesano heading down the picturesque Highway 107 for a few miles. This connects with Highway 101 south which takes you up over rolling hills where there is much active logging. Finally, we descend into the town of Raymond. I will have to come back here some day. This is a really pretty riverside town that is decorated with very interesting metal art at every turn.
 |
| This is heading west on Highway 101 somewhere between South Bend and Bruceport. We are getting closer to the ocean! |
 |
| Ah, the Columbia River looking south towards Astoria. |
 |
With construction at the south end of the bridge we had a long period of time with no oncoming traffic which made for great picture taking while maintaining 55 mph going over a bridge towing a trailer.
|
 |
| It was a long drive; however, we arrived in Cannon Beach just in time to have a dinner time stroll on the beach before heading to the Cannon Beach RV Resort for the night. |
 |
| We are in for the night! |
No comments:
Post a Comment