Morning of Day 4 found us in a usual spot along the river in South Bend, Washington.
After a cruise through town to check the e-mail and post the last update we headed south again.
Before long we were at the mouth of the Columbia River, and the Washington/Oregon boundary half way across the bridge.
The remains of this old boat was beached on the north shore of the river.And, the 'low' Washington end of the bridge. The other end is high enough to handle ocean-going cargo ships.

Big blue took on fuel just south down the coast in seaside, and this carving was photographed out the window while waiting for a light to change.
The first of many spectacular views is just a bit further south.
Notice how happy the truck and camper look when not covered in snow and ice!

Then it was on to Tillamook, Or, home of the huge blimp hangar(s) from the second world war - and the Cheese Factory. I had read that it was worthy of a stop, and it is rated as one of the top ten tourist attractions in the state.So I did! And it was fairly impressive. You can watch much of the production line from big glass windows above the floor, and there are many interpretive displays and free samples.
The cheese comes out in big 50lb blocks and then is sliced into the various sizes, where it is separated and individually weighed. If a block is below weight, someone adds a slice of two, and if it is too heavy, a bit is cut off the end.


Okay, I even recorded a movie of some of the action for you.





Spent the night out on the dike - in the right side of the photo below, that was once the community of Bayocean, until the sand it was built on eroded away. In the morning I toured around the Cape Meares area .
It features the shortest lighthouse - at only 38 feet!
Just offshore, Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge is home to the largest concentration of tufted puffins along the coast.
Cape Meares is part of the 3 capes drive which also includes Cape Lookout and Cape Kiwanda.

Day one - RoadTrip '09
The day finally arrived for a departure! The last of the stuff was just tossed into the back of the camper, to be organized later, - in a warmer location.

Made a stop in Golden, just west of home to have coffee with an 'old' friend there, then carried on west. He arrived with his suitcase packed, but I didn't take the hint!

Back in Roger's Pass, I took a couple of shots to show how high the snowbanks are there!

Only made it a few miles on the first day. As per plan, I stopped to visit a friend in Revelstoke, and camped the nite in his driveway, after taking in some cultural events downtown.

It was snowing a bit in the morning, so that was a good incentive to hit the road early.



Three Valley Gap, west of Revelstoke.

It was not that cold, but very winter-like nevertheless! I fueled up in Grindrod area where diesel fuel was going for 90 cents a litre.
A friend in Vernon was not at home, so we kept heading south to visit another 'old' friend, and had another coffee - in the coffee shop operated by that friend and his wife. Strangley, he had a suitcase packed, too, but I didn't let him aboard either.

The bridge in Kelowna.
I ran out of luck when visiting yet another 'old' friend south of Kelowna. This time I was lured with the promise of beer and food, and another driveway to camp in, so spent the second nite, entertained by some 'police actions!' in the neighorhood! Good food and good company. I was surprised to see robins already back in the Kelowna area.

Day 3 - back on the road west on 97C to Merritt, home of the big country music Festival, and then on the Coquihalla highway. Temps were -9C over the pass to Merritt, and I listened to some great music on the Sirius satellite radio, including Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, George Strait, and Beckie Hobbs.
This is the first time I have been on the highway since the toll was removed. Until last fall it was a $10 toll each way, but now all the toll booths have been removed, and it is free sailing through!



One of the avalanche paths along the Coquhalla highway.
Once off the Coquihalla, the snow and cold had ended, so treated the truck and camper to a quick wash to get rid of the road grime and salt.
Kept moving through Abbotsford and down to the Sumas border crossing. It was about a half hour lineup, so that was adequate time to get my affairs in order including swapping my Canadian cash for the US variety, getting the old passport out, and turning the data feature 'off' on my new iPhone as the roaming charges in the states would be astronomical, compared to Canada. What ever happened to 'free trade'?

Made it to Bellingham before having to fill the tank again - at about $2.23/gallon. Then it was onto I-5 for a fast run south, switching from JR FM 93.7 in Vancouver to KMPS 94.1 in Seattle.

Found water available at a rest stop north of Everett, so I filled up the tank, and started the de-winterizing process. Made a bit too good of progress and caught the last part of rush hour going through Seattle, but managed to avoid the worst tie-ups by paying attention to the road reports and took the alternate I-405 to avoid the construction downtown.The other lanes had come to a completer halt in the above pic.
Only had to test the brakes once, and that was enough to move the camper forward about 2 inches to where it should have been sitting anyway.

Peeled off of I-5 at the state capitol Olympia and headed for the coast in plus 7 temps and continuing great music, and driving conditions. The new truck just purrs along like a dream
Time to pick out at good coastal-veiw campspot in the South Bend, Wa area.

Well, if you have to be stuck in the frozen snowy north country, there are a few tried and true techniques to put a big smile on your face!First, find some soft snow that is over 2.5 m deep (7 feet). Then strap on your skis and carve some turns in the untouched powder.
We spent a few days doing just that last week, and I have to say it was quite a success.

Of course, snow stability evaluations have to be done because the avalanche hazard throughout the area was a bit on the high side.
We always skied the safe lines, but had more than our share of great powder.
The weather was warm, and the visibility was good for most of the time we were there, so it was a treat to actually see where you are going and where you have been!



Some of the crew that I was skiing with.

We were fortunate to be able to use sleds one day to reach a remote area for some more powder turns - and snowpack evaluation.
A winter wonderland, not too far from Revelstoke, BC.

Once we got to the desired location, we strapped on the skis and did a few great runs - on 'Lost Guide' Creek. You won't find that on any map, so don't bother looking.

Meanwhile, back at home, the highway twinning project was moving into high gear.
The big mechanical cutters were practically working in my back yard - only time will tell how much more traffic noise will result from the tree removal.
But guess what the long-awaited good news is today? If I manage to get all the lists checked and everything loaded, I could well begin my next roadtrip, after work today! And it is about time.
I am so looking forward to some warmth and lack of snow, and adventures that await down the road.

The 15th annual Ice Magic Festival was held last week in Lake Louise and area, with ice carvers from all over the world competing with local talent to create some amazing ice-art. While I did not attend any of the major venues, there are examples all around town and the local area.
More photos and details at the link to the news story above.

My camera was not quite quick enough to get a good shot of this lynx who scooted across the road in front of me recently. Much better photos of lynx can be found in my post from November 6 of last year.But it was not hard to get a shot of this bull elk who only looked up when he had to walk around my vehicle, blocking his progress down the tracks as he searched for food.

Two others were not so lucky, and got hit by trains. Carcasses had to be removed to prevent wolves from being attracted to the rails and perhaps suffering the same fate. Trains move slowly here, so it is surprising that animals get struck. I suspect they are so used to the noise and motion that they do not realize there is a hazard. Maybe a wolf strapped to the front of all trains would do the trick? :)




I got busy this weekend and pulled the batteries out of the 5th wheel. After checking the fluid levels and cleaning all the connections I strapped them into the wheel well area of the truck box, so they can be part of the slide-in's power system. It was almost dark when it was time to load the camper. I decided to go ahead and load under the lights. And I'm glad I did, because the next day was cold and windy with blowing snow and not at all conducive to camper loading.So, the camper is on and pretty much ready to roll next week. But for now I will have to be satisfied with a few days of powder skiing - that is, if we can find any powder?

Estimated departure date: Feb 12th!!