We had a plan for the first day. We were going to make it to Port Townsend on the Olympia peninsula, just a day’s drive from home. Since it was the end of October, naturally it was a grey and rainy day. Our first stop was the Peace Arch border crossing. Was my pot bust from 1974 in Montreal going to affect my status? Were they going to confiscate our camper van, throw us out? We had our spiel rehearsed: No arguing and contradicting each other like the last time we crossed into the USA. As in:

Border guard: How long to you plan to stay in the USA?

Me: About a month

Betty: Maybe more like two months

Boarder guard: And where do you plan to travel to?

Me: San Diego, I have a cousin there.

Betty: We’re also planning to go to Mexico

Border guard: Maybe you two should talk. Have a nice trip.

We waited about an hour in line until we finally got to the checkpoint. The young border guard just wanted to know how long we planned to stay. I answered. Betty smiled. He wished us a good trip. We were in. Just like that. Travelling USA.

A couple of hours later we arrived at the Coupeville ferry terminal on Whitbey Island. The 20minute sailing deposited us in Port Townshend. The ferry itself was an ugly, bulky tub which made our old ferries look like cruise ships. The coast:  US$ 14 including the van. The best and only deal, as we soon found out. 

Port Townsend is a picturesque waterfront town featuring a historic main street with Art Deco buildings, once a thriving wild harbour scene overlooked by some pretty Victorian houses up the hillside. It reminded us a bit of Nelson in the Kootenays. 

It happened to be Halloween and we passed some garishly decorated front yards, full of blow-up ghouls, tombstones and skeletons. We also found a great French restaurant – Alchemy – for dinner and here came our first surprise. $$$! Also, our small van, – a ROADTREK – coast us US$ 65 to park in the waterfront RV park. Petrol, which we thought was cheaper than at home came in at US$ 5.50 a gallon. Maybe a few pennies less than in Gibsons. Thinking the US is cheaper than Gibsons B.C was just an illusion. We found all the prices from restaurants to groceries are dollar for dollar and higher for many items. Considering that we paid Can$ 1.40 for every US greenback. That made prices almost one and a half time higher than home. This makes Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast a bargain for US tourists.

The Olympic peninsula is a large scenic park with hot springs in the middle of it and miles of rainforest hikes. We followed the road along the water up to Port Angeles and could see Vancouver Island across the Salish Sea. M.V. Coho and Clipper actually depart from here to Victoria. All along the scenic route we drove through a few reserve lands. Some featured Casinos which offered free camping. We opted instead for campgrounds with hookups, showers and toilets. Also, we passed by several unsightly roadside clearcuts; something you won’t see up north. 

One overnight stop was at the Three Rivers campsite, a reserve town famous for the setting of 2008 movie Twilight. This wooded campground was close to Rialto Beach, a dramatic waterfront with a pebble beach and jagged outcroppings breaking the onslaught of the relentless Pacific. A great place for a lunch or sunsets. We grabbed our chairs and set up on the water’s edge, watching the endless waves roll in.

We followed the coastline around the peninsula and overnighted at Westport Winery, a Harvest Host. They offer free overnight parking and can be found all over the US and Canada. This winery featured a whimsical Mermaid Museum, a gourmet deli and a wine bar. We did all three. 

One aspect of road travel is the everchanging scenery, like a non-stop 3D movie going by. Driving also meant constantly being aware of your surroundings, three mirrors and the front view, always checking and reacting to changing conditions. I like driving and mentioned to Betty that I could have been a long-haul trucker. She was not impressed.

We stopped in Newport to watch the odorous, barking sea lions and then had a clam chowder for lunch at Mo’s. We passed up on the sea caves, where an elevator brings you down into a large protected cave full of smelly, barking and rutting sea lions.

Our next overnight stop was the Blue Heron Cheese factory in Tillamook, also a Harvest Host. This town featured a large creamery with an output of thousands of pounds of cheddar cheese and ice cream. We did a self-guided tour which also showed us on large screens the happy cows, sleeping on foamies and walking into automated milk machines two or three times a day. They didn’t tell us what happens to these bovines once the milk dries up. Beef bouillon? Pet food? Shoe polish?

We followed the dramatic coast of Oregon, past miles of sandy beaches with rough seas coming in, steep rocky cliffs, a long stretch of large dunes and quaint little towns with names like ‘Cape of Foul Weather’. Indeed, the rain was driving sideways, windshield wipers on max. From Leggat we headed west and took the long, steep and windy connector to Hwy #1

The redwoods were one of our destinations on this trip and we weren’t disappointed. We stopped in Crescent City, just inside California and got some excellent tips from a park ranger. He directed us into a newly opened trail system in Jedediah Smith State Park off Walker Road. Grove of the Titans took our breath away. The gigantic trees, 1500 – 2500 years old are truly awesome. One of them was 22m in circumference and 7m diameter. They dwarfed our Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island. These redwood trees were simply from another age, from long before the colonisers cut down 95% of them. It staggers the mind.

The Napa Valley was another of our destinations and we came into it from the West, over the Mayacamas Mountains. After the twisty, slow road we descended into Sonoma Valley which at this time of year was a carpet of gold and red which stretched out before us. Acres and acres of vines which continued into the neighbouring Napa Valley. It was a stunning sight. Vineyards filled the valley and up the slopes of the Sanoma Mountains to the east and the Mayacamas range to the west. We stopped in Calistoga which is like a small version of Whistler or Banff. The main throughfare is lined with fancy wine boutiques and expensive restaurants, spa hotels and resorts with hot springs. Wine tastings were $ 50 per person which didn’t really interest us but we did find a place which served us a glass of wine which didn’t force us into mortgaging the house. Napa Valley is about 40km long and 4km wide and lined with wineries and vineyards, some of them Italian, baroque castles and all of them with expensive, overpriced wines. Chateau Montelena won the historic Judgment of Paris wine competition for its 1973 Chardonnay and put Napa on the map of the world’s best wine regions. This story was made into the 2008 movie Bottle Shock starring the late Alan Rickman.

We camped at the State Park outside of Calistoga and were able to use the local shuttle bus for a dollar a ride. Since most visitors came to the valley for the wines, a shuttle service made sense.

Napa City with its 80’000 inhabitants was a disappointment. Again, a main street lined with name brand luxury stores, wine boutiques and art galleries appealing to a well-heeled crowd. Nowhere were there any cozy grottos or restaurants that served open, local wine as they do in the Bordeaux region or the Medoc or the hill towns of Italy and Spain. All the wine was expensive. No such thing as a cheap Napa wine. 

We had to get around San Francisco since we had no desire to stop in the city. We’ve been here before and rode the F-line streetcar along Market Street to Fisherman’s wharf and had a serving of chowder in a famous sourdough bowl. We just wanted to get to the other side to Half Moon Bay. There was a disagreement between the two navigators. Mandy from the TomTom GPS and Betty sitting next to me with her map. I missed a couple of exits which flushed us past the city into an ever-growing river of cars down the multi lane #880 Freeway. Scanning 3 mirrors and the front windshield while listening to the calm and sexy voice of GPS Mandy telling me to stay left and the frustrated directions from Betty informing me that I missed yet another exit didn’t make for fun driving. Eventually I was able to get out of this nightmarish traffic hell and after driving for about 40km north we made it to our destination: Pelican Point, just west of Halfmoon Bay. The RV park cost us US$ 90 but it did offer laundry services and DVD rentals for $ 1. We watched Away, a 1989 Spielberg film with Holly Hunter, Richard Dreyfuss and a young and hilarious John Goodman. The Park was right next to a Ritz Carlton Hotel which towered on top of a cliff above the foaming and wild Pacific. It sat next to a ritzy Golf course but the clubhouse was open to anyone and served a decently priced pub menu. We dined beside the millionaire golfers, feeling a tad out of place.

Looking at the map we figured we’d make it to Morro Bay, our final destination, just a couple hours short of LA. We took the fastest route along #280 to #101 and #41 to the Morro Bay State Park by the lagoon, right next to the State Park golf course. We parked, plugged in and then walked along the boardwalk and enjoyed a spectacular sunset. We had a dinner of fajitas and enchiladas at the Bayview Café just next to the RV park. Dinner included a liter of open local wine from Paso Robles. We felt that we had arrived.

The next morning, we walked the boardwalk again along the estuary and saw a myriad of birds: flocks of cormorants, egrets, solitary herons and sandpipers and cruising above us falcons looking for easy prey. Even the odd monarch butterfly flitted by. We checked out the seaside village with all the galleries, tourist and surf shops, had the best roast beef sandwich at the Hofbrau waterfront café and watched the lazy sea-otters and sealions along the active harbour front. In the near distance loomed Morro Rock, a colossal plug left over from an ancient volcano and the defining landmark. We walked to the Inn on the Park which offered Happy Hour specials and spectacular views of the rock and sunsets on the bay. The weather was a balmy 20+ degrees. Life was good.

We needed our rear brakes fixed and were at the shop first thing on Monday morning. As promised, they got right to it and two hours and US$ 280 later, we had new rear brakes. We got another roast beef sandwich and parked by the beach next to the rock, watching the surfers and sea kayakers catching the waves. 

Back at the campground we got our chairs and a drink and sat on the beach to watch the spectacular sunset show one more time. The next day we decided to start the long trek back up the coast heading for home. We stopped north of Hearst Castle (which we visited once before) to watch the young sea elephants resting on the same beach forever. We also stopped in Carmel by the Sea, a ritzy town full of high-end shops, expensive wine tasting rooms and classy villas lining the streets down to the expansive beach and adjacent park. 

This time we opted to drive over the Golden Gate bridge and right through downtown San Francisco which proved easier than going around the city. We arrived at the Nelson winery, north of Hopland, our 3^rd Harvest Host, just next to the #101.  After some mandatory wine tasting we bought a bottle and camped under a massive oak tree next to the vineyard. 

The next day we stopped for a seafood lunch at Crescent City and then made it to Gold Beach, Oregon where we stayed in the downtown RV park for the best deal yet. $ 40 for a full hook up and within walking distance to shops, restaurants and the beach. We meandered along the wild Oregon coast, marvelling at the dramatic scenery and made it to Gearhart just south of the Olympia Peninsula. One more pasta dinner in the van. 

We were up early and made it to the border in good time and all the way to Horseshoe Bay where we got on the 4:20 ferry. We were happy to be home again after 5’000km and 3 weeks on the road.