San Francisco to Canada.......
We left Vallejo (near San Francisco) after 1 year and 1 day on Macswayround! This travelling life is proving to be very favourable to us all! We found the Wine Country RV Park at Rohnert Park, still in California. It has been much busier this time around in the USA, being mid-summer, and so it has not always been so easy to find a camp spot. However- perseverance has paid off! We spent some time in the Redwood National Forest and State Parks and the children did some more work to become Junior Rangers here – as they have enjoyed doing at each available park. Here, we walked amongst the TALLEST trees in the world and we went on a hike with ‘Ranger Renee!’ In human terms the Redwoods are ‘timeless’. This area was also Big Foot territory – so we kept our eyes open wide! As we continued our journey, the Mad River Rapids RV Park at Arcata was our last stop in California. Across the Stateline and into Oregon and we stopped off in Brookings. The next day, north of Florence, we took a look at the ‘Sea –Lion Cave’ – the largest Sea- Cave in the world! A lift took us down the 208 foot drop to a viewing area. The cave was jam packed inside with Stellar Sea-lions, where the fishy smell was immensely over-powering! It was wonderful to see the sea-lions, once again in their naturally chosen environment. In Waldport, at the Handy Haven RV Park, we enjoyed spending time with John, Becky and a toddling Nina! We shared their camp fire and had an extended happy hour, toasting marsh mallows! It was great to have happy hours back again and maybe we will meet again along our travels! We decided to head inland for a while to get some more of the hot stuff before we get too far north! At McMinnville, the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum was very entertaining. It is now home to the ‘Spruce Goose’. This is the world’s largest wooden airplane and has the largest wing span. It was built by Howard Hughes and co-incidentally the plane is not made from spruce at all – but 95% birch! We camped at the Tri – Mountain RV Park in Ridgefield, before taking a big drive the next day which took us through Seattle. It was not raining in Seattle which was lucky as it is renowned for being a very soggy place! We found Creekside Camping at a place named Concrete and the children built a dam in the river. Taking a little detour, the North Cascades National Park gave more Junior Ranger Fun! We took a river loop walk and found out more about yet another amazingly wild place. Over 94% of the land located within this park is designated to the Stephen Mather Wilderness and there are over 400 miles of hiking trails! The National Parks help create a link between the past and a safe-guard to the future..... We rested at the Cedars RV Park in Ferndale and enjoyed a happy hour with Norman and Margaret and got some advice on Canadian ways! The next day we were ready and we crossed the border into Canada! Another stamp in our passports! At Hope we saw the Visitor Centre and Museum. Hope is home to many movies as the setting is very favourable, including ’Rambo 1- First Blood’, in 1982. We discovered that the First Nations people were also referred to as Aborigine which was interesting, and in Hope, the first nation people were called ‘Sto:lo (meaning ‘people of the river’ in the Salish language). Anderson Creek Campground, in the Fraser Canyon was our first taste of a Canadian camp spot and it was lovely! Maybe those were signs that a bear had paid a visit to a tenting party just down by the river- side? Later, at Willow Springs Campground near Clinton, Jemma and Ben tried out our new Challenger dingy on a perfectly calm lake! We got some good Alaskan travel advice from our Canadian neighbours. McLeese Lake Resort gave Phil his chance to go fishing in the dingy! This lake was too big to let the children loose in, as they need a spot more practice at rowing first! We would like to thank the McLeese Resort for donating our camp fee as we are continuing to raise money for the Devon Air Ambulance. Prince George was our next port of call in our trek north, and to the Hartway RV Park. We found another place named Mackenzie and had an amazing time! At a quiet river, Phil caught 3 fish and we saw 3 Bald Headed Eagles – YES! Another BIG wildlife hit was a female moose –chumping at the grasses and standing leg deep in a lake – double YES! We watched quietly as she continued her daily business! This is what Canada is all about for us and in Ben’s words – ‘This is what MACSWAYROUND is all about!’ At the river a couple of quad bikes came through as they headed back down from a nearby mountain. They stopped for a chat as Nessie is a bit conspicuous –bless her! Al and Pete recommended that we visit a sandy beached lake and Al even came back around to show us the way there! Thanks! They said that they had been making the most of this beautiful weather as they were used to having 20 foot of snow in Mackenzie! The children had a dip and then we headed to another recommendation- Williston Lake. This was the landing place of explorer Alexander Mackenzie who was the first European to trek here in 1793. He and his team were looking for a North West Passage and surveying the Rocky Mountains. There was a beautiful camp spot by the lake and the dingy was made use of once more. The scenery which we passed through from Mackenzie to Chetwynd was absolutely stunning – Mother Nature doing what she does-at her very best. The contrasting colours were a continuous picture and this really is a magical time of year to be exploring Canada! We arrived into Dawson Creek and stayed at the Northern Lights RV Park. Phil ‘dressed’ Nessie in preparation for her adventure- Alaska bound! She now has a protective matting taped to her bonnet and very thick plastic stuck to her headlights. Stone chips are a big problem on these types of dusty roads and a cracked light would cause major hassle as we would not be able to replace them in either country (they point the other way to the locals!) Prevention is better than cure-we hope! More about Dawson Creek – next time!!
Friday, 31 July 2009 07:28:44 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)      Comments [0]  Canada | USA