So-long Canada - but I'll be seein'ya again soon .. and There's a Spruce Goose, Loose, Aboot this Hoose

Sunday, September-09

Today at Stan's place is the second, of only two occasions THIS YEAR, that the Pan has received a half-decent 'shampoo and hose' wash down. Isn’t it strange how cars and motorcycles seem to go better after a good clean?

But shortly after lunchtime this bright and sunny Sunday afternoon I'm crisply riding along towards the southern outskirts of Vancouver to collect Ellen from the airport. Her plane lands at 2:30pm. The weather is perhaps the most perfect of the whole tour so far. Around 25º - 27ºC [77º - 81ºF], with very low humidity, a deep blue sky and not a cloud in sight.

Over the course of the next 1½ days and 2 nights, we are made to feel completely at home. Stan's rear garden/yard is an extension of his home's interior. A place to relax, play ...

.. and spend long evenings enjoying barbeques and drinking good beer and wines together around a wood fire .. talking through and sorting out the world's problems [telling yarns - and tawkin' a loada bollocks, in other words] .. excellent!

Monday, Sep-10
We need to explore and see what Vancouver has to offer, so by mid-morning the following day (Mon-09) we're riding up a cable car to ...

.. the top of Grouse Mountain. Shame that the pines and other firs slightly spoilt the view of the city below. But we can just make-out the mountains of Vancouver Island along the distant horizon

Clearly this is a popular spot for Vancouver's paragliding fraternity

Up close and personal with either 'Grinder' or 'Coola', one of two orphaned grizzly bear cubs here at Grouse Mountain's Refuge for Endangered Wildlife

The "free flight" exhibition where ya'll can see the incredible hunting skills of the eagle, hawk and falcon.

You can just identify snow-capped Mt Baker on the horizon - within the neighbouring American state of Washington

The best view of the City is actually from the inside of a cable car ...

.. going down ...

.. we then ride to the nearest post office where I box-up and dispatch my bulky, but warm, Rev'it riding jacket [+ liner] back to the UK. There's just no room on-board for two armoured jackets now that I'll be carrying a pillion [+ the associated extra luggage] for the next two weeks. I hope that I've made the right choice by retaining my much newer and cooler Tennessean JoeRocket mesh jacket. Well, I'll soon find out!

Then onwards to Granville Island ...

.. and the fantastic markets around the neighbourhood

Tuesday, Sep-11
Stan was brought-up and spent his childhood and later his salad days on Vancouver Island. Most of his siblings still live there. So he suggests that we go take a visit.

We race to the terminal and manage to catch the 11:00am Tsawwassen ferry ...

.. my fifth, and penultimate, ferry crossing on this trip so far - (1) Transatlantic, (2) St Lawrence, (3) Martha’s Vineyard, (4) Mississippi, (5) Vancouver Island

.. the "Queen of Saanich" pulls away from the Ferry Port into the Strait of Georgia, bang on time.

The weather is still quite perfect.

Around an hour later we're approaching the outlying islands ...

.. and pass between Mayne [port side] and Galiano [to starboard] Islands ...

.. and sweep along towards Swartz Bay on the northern end of the Saanich Peninsula.

This ferry trip reminds me very much of the ferry journey into South Island's Queen Charlotte Sound to Picton, from Wellington, North Island, New Zealand.

The 20 mile [32 km] southbound ride to Victoria takes around 30 minutes. It's great to simply be following another biker's tail lights; sadly this sort of lazy-luxury will come to an end all too soon .. :o(

Stan takes us on a tour of his (self-admitted, mostly mis-spent .. ;o) youthful times and favourite haunts. I think this is 'Clover Point' - with the Olympic Mountain Range, Washington State (USA), across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in the background.

[I'm sure Stan will be in touch to correct me if I'm wrong here!]

After dropping all our 'stuff' off at Stan's brother's (Tim's) place, with a much lighter payload, we ride into Victoria's city centre; explore ...

.. and soak-up the continuing glorious sunshine .. :o)

Wednesday, Sep-12
Yunno, regrets I have just a few - but there again, too few to mention - (eat yer god’damn heart out Frank .. :o) about this trip; one of them is not snapping enough photos, when those special occasions arise. Last night was one such occasion .. :o(

Cuz we had a GREAT time. What with BBQ'd prime fillet beef and sockeye salmon steaks, pan-fried oysters, fresh corn-on-the-cobs, a huge salad bowl, buttered new potatoes, veges, etcetera etceteras.

Stan's younger, and quite delightful, sisters (x 2) popped-in for the party (Good lookin' gals they both are too! .. ;o) ;o)

Not a single solitary picture taken during the whole event .. bugger! .. :o(

Maybe next time then.
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Today (Wed-12) the plan was to ride around at least some of the southern end of Vancouver Island. But sadly a persistent fog has set in, which doesn't want to lift at all.

So with the prospect of not much scenery to be viewed, I make the decision to leave the Island a day early and head south, by ferry, across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to ~~> Port Angeles, WA, and return to nearby America. My sixth and maybe my last ferry crossing .. perhaps, for some time.

Goodbye Canada it is then ... but I'll see you momentarily again in 10 days' time.

90 very foggy minutes later and we're disembarking from the good ship 'Coho' onto the shores of America. Not a "Welcome to America" sign in sight, nor a "Washington State Welcomes You" sign around. So after convincing a US Customs official that we're not dangerous aliens, we quietly turn left and head 47 miles [76 km] east towards the laid-back and sleepy ferry town of Port Townsend. Within the hour we check-in to the Waterstreet Hotel, as recommended (we think?) by Tim & Stan. AND the bar next door to the hotel serves great food.

TIP: the password for the bar's wireless network key is: 'drinkmorebeer' - sounds like a plan then .. ;o)

We watch the shadow of the setting sun go down across Admiralty Inlet.

Thursday, Sep-13
Due south - with an eastwards excursion - is on the agenda today. The excursion being Mount St Helens, scene of a catastrophic volcanic eruption back in 1980.

For around an hour before lunch we follow the winding road along the western shore of Dabob Bay and Hood Canal. The scene(s) remind me of the Helford River back in Cornwall. Except here, at Triton Cove, the oysters and clams are absolutely free and very plentiful. Just go help yourself.

There are shells of the said shellfish everywhere

Ellen spots some wild orchids thriving in the undergrowth

140 miles [225 km] later and we're approaching Mount St Helens. On May-18, 1980, the ground, which was once the sides and summit of Mount St Helens swept down the Toutle River filling the valley below to a depth of 150 ft [46 m].

To see the top and side of this mountain .. just blown away, is quite an incredible sight. And whilst the weather conditions are good up here, at 3,000+ ft [900+ m] ...

.. as we make our way down again, we can see and know that we're gonna probably get wet.

By good fortune Ellen's nephew (her brother's son), Paul (& wife Judi) lives just south of Portland City. So after a couple of text msg exchanges, we're bombing down the interstates I-5 and I-205 towards West Linn; cross over the state line into Oregon, and arrive at P&J's around 7:00pm .. and notice that it's already growing dark. Conclusion: Winter is now definitely just around the corner! :o(

Friday, Sep-14
First stop this morning is the nearest foreign currency exchange facility we can find, cuz we're pretty sure that we have a small financial windfall on our hands .. :o)

You see, just before her departure from Blighty, Ellen bought and paid for some considerable amount of US dollars .. but the dozy-cow cashier at the UK-based Bureau de Change inadvertently, and by mistake, gave her the correct number of bills .. BUT Euros instead of bucks.

Ellen didn't realise the mistake .. eh-hem .. until we entered the States just a couple of days ago.

The result ... after the commission-free exchange (because the deal was more than > USD $400+) .. a cool profit of $232 .. !! .. :o)

David, the Beaverton town-based US Bank teller, is our newest and bestest friend

Free beers tonight, I fancy!

We move on, and further south, to the Evergreen Aviation Museum

Home of numerous historic aircraft ...

.. including a redundant Apollo LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) ... and ..

.. and ...

.. and ...

.. you’ve probably got it by now ...

.. Howard Hughes’ colloquially known ‘Spruce Goose’ aeroplane - the biggest and most expensive, seaplane ever built. Believe me .. this muther is HUGE.

But this one only ever flew once. What folly.

53 miles [85 km] later, and to the west, we arrive at the Pacific coastline .. and I get the goose-bumps. This is the first time that we (all three of us, including the Pan) have seen real surf - on a real sandy beach - since we left Long Island, New York, precisely two months ago. I have indeed crossed America, on a motorcycle, via a very dodgy route .. :o)

Feeling quietly smug with meself, yet humble at the same time, we press on down the Oregon Pacific coast ...

.. for a further 100 miles [161 km] to the township of Reedsport ...


.. The coastline really is quite beautiful.

It reminds me of Cornwall .. :o)