Weir Fishing

Walking on the ocean floor

I usually write about my post retirement trips on this blog, and normally the trips are off in some far-off locations, but you know there are lots of interesting spots to visit and write about right here in my home province of Nova Scotia. This summer, I am not traveling far, and intend to make a few trips around the province. We are off on our first excursion early in June, picking up the trailer from dad in Elm River, visiting friends in Economy, and then going across to the Valley, and then around to tour the South Shore.

The Weir

Our first stop in Economy, gave us  a chance to go weir fishing. I’m not much of a fisherman, lacking the patience to stand around waiting for some fish stupid enough to get my fish hook stuck in its mouth. Weir fishing makes it easier. They go out onto the flats at low tide and set up poles and nets in a “V” so that the next time the tide goes out the fish are funneled into the “V” and into a large square net.

We walked out across the Bay of Fundy following the tide as it went out. The owner of the weir came out in an old truck (they only last so long driving through the salt water), and unloaded empty plastic fish boxes and lent us all rubber gloves.

The weir was full of fish, but four were large sturgeon that as a protected species had to be released. These things were big enough that they had to be pulled out to deeper water with a rope.

Letting the sturgeon go

We filled about eight tubs with flounder. You could stand inside the weir, and just bend down and pick the fish out of the water. The fish were four or five deep underfoot, and all you had to do was feel around in the water to find another fish to throw into the bins.

Although this is an easier way to fish than casting a baited line into the water hoping for a bite (we tried this the next day with NO success), after an hour of throwing flounders into boxes, I decided this wasn’t that “easy”. The couple who were actually catching these fish for a living were only starting - they still had to take the catch home and clean and process it for sale, over another three hours work.

Regis didn’t make it any easier, she was constantly telling us that “that little one wants to get away.” or “oh look at that cute one; you should let him go.”

Back To PEI

Restored Tractor

P.E.I. and I do not have the best of relationships. I know the "Island" is a popular tourist destination, but every time I try to play tourist there, I get rain, fog or man-eating mosquitoes. One year we planned a week long family "Island" vacation in a rental cottage. It rained for the first three days, and when the sun finally came out on the forth , we sent the children out to play only to have them forced back in by giant mosquitoes. Then it rained for three more days. PEI retained the "Worst Vacation Ever" honor for years.

Now we did give The Island chances to redeem itself. after all it’s always sunny on any of the "Anne Of Green Gables" TV shows, but even on three subsequent trips over we were assaulted with wet weather and mosquitoes. As a result, I wrote Prince Edward Island off as a place to avoid unless absolutely necessary.

Amongst the stack of mail waiting us upon our return from the RV trip was a letter from a delightful lady we had met in Japan. She was our daughter’s Japanese teacher in Japan, and after meeting her there, we maintained contact through letter writing - remember those; envelopes, stamps, and words on thin crinkly “air mail” paper? She said she was coming to Canada on a “study tour” of P.E.I.and she would love to see Alisha and us if we were available.

Alisha was unable to come down from Ottawa, but we decided to make a trip of it, find a nice place to stay, and perhaps look for some interesting things to do on the Island. Our Japanese friend had only a short window when she could meet us, so that left us plenty of time to explore.

Saturday did not bode well, with rain and so much fog that we drove across the bridge without even being able to see the water under us, but at least the fog lifted a bit, and we managed to meet up with Alisha’s teacher, and spent a pleasant afternoon with her, her husband and three other Japanese tourists here “studying” Anne of Green Gables and Prince Edward Island.

Sunday we were on our own to enjoy Prince Edward Island, and it actually dawned with blue sky and sunshine - we thought we were back in Nova Scotia.

The Dawson House

We were staying in a wonderful B & B within walking distance of downtown Charlottetown called The Dawson House. Wonderful old house, very friendly hosts, comfortable room, and delicious breakfast. We will definitely stay here again when in P.E.I.

It was “Farm Day” in Charlottetown, and the main street was turned into a pedestrian only street for Sunday, and filled with farm market booths. At one end there was a really interesting display of restored stationary engines and farm machinery. The men who had restored these old engines showed so much pride in their work as they fired up the old workhorses and demonstrated them for us.

Another nice local beer

I was pleased to find that I could continue my quest for sampling good local beer in P.E.I. We discovered a really great local brew pub called Gahan Brewery, right off the main street in Charlottetown. They not only served their own beer; brewed on site - I had one called “Island Red”, that was great - but the food was also excellent. I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich served with barbecue sauce made with their own beer, and some of the best French fries I’ve had.

On the way home we decided to take the ferry to Pictou, because there was a 70 mile yard sale throughout the area, and a P.E.I. Winery we could visit.

We had a good time in our neighboring province, and it managed to go a long way in restoring it’s damaged reputation as a “vacation location”. We look forward to crossing the famous bridge again.

RV Trip Summary

Sharing the rest stops

It is difficult to keep “Blogging” when I am not travelling. It seems that there are always things that have to be done, and sitting down to write is not one of the “important” things.

I thought you might enjoy a brief summary of the RV trip now that it is over.

You have to be able to see

In general terms, we went from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, but we certainly did not take the most direct route – where is the fun in that? We started in Nova Scotia, but went on a gentle South Western path that took us through the middle of the United States. We went as far south as the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff Arizona before turning north again and heading up through California to get to Vancouver Island. Coming home we did take a more direct route, through western Canada, down to North Dakota and under the Great Lakes to Michigan, then back into Ontario and finally on home to the East Coast again.

When we got home, we went back over the maps and traced our route into the Road Atlas we used as a general guide and I then wrote little short daily notes about routes, stops and campgrounds. We have done the “Cross-country” trip twice before, but I could not tell you our exact route, so this time I tried to keep better notes. Using these notes and my journal, I can give you some interesting information about the trip.

Our "Rig" is only big on it's own.

We did approximately 18,000 km in total distance driven. I had good intentions to have an exact amount, as I zeroed both the A and B trip odometers, planning to use A for each tankful of fuel and keep B running for the entire trip. Somehow B got zeroed along the way, so I have had to simply add the distances recorded for each fill-up. This of course counts all mileage including local trips at each stop.

We were gone from June 29^th until August 27^th, for a total of 60 days.

We drove through seven provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec. We visited twenty five states, including Maine, New Hampshire Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

A Racing Tundra!

We crossed the Canada/US border four times at four different places, New Brunswick/Maine, Washington/British Columbia, Saskatchewan/North Dakota, and Michigan/Ontario. We had to turn in our oranges and tomatoes each time we entered the US, but Canada did not seem to mind anything we imported. Crossing the border this many times on one trip did present some questions. For example, I brought two bottles of wine and some nice local beers across when I entered Canada in British Columbia, and I wanted to keep these until I got home. I asked the border officials and they did not seem to mind. I kept the receipts for things I bought the first section of the trip and if questioned I could have shown the different items, but the border officials accepted my explanation and I had no problems.

We visited thirty three different campgrounds in total, spent two nights in Walmart parking lots and the rest parked in friends or family yards. The longest time spent in one place was at my sister's house on Vancouver Island where we spent six days. The longest campground stop was in Vancouver for five days visiting friends followed by four days in California waiting for new springs for the trailer. Most of these campgrounds were very nice thanks to our diligent “Trip Planner” who researched and reviewed prior to choosing. We had one really bad one, and perhaps two that were “not so good”. We belong to an RV campground service called Passport America that lists discounted campgrounds at 50% off, but we quickly discovered that most of these are in the list because they are well off the main routes, and the savings are eliminated when the extra fuel and time to find them are factored in. We found that in general, the KOA campgrounds are reliable and high quality, if somewhat more expensive. We reserved a spot at many campgrounds, but in general found that campgrounds were not full. The exception to this was in Oregon and Washington where we found everything packed full.

I am not going to give costs of the trip. Fuel was the major expense; the truck gets about 10 MPG towing the trailer, and unless you get a strong tail wind like we had in North Dakota nothing makes much difference. You could tow up mountains, or through cities without a big difference, and I was amazed at how reliable and dependable the truck was. We were surprised at the cost of some campgrounds almost approaching the price of a motel, but in general you pay about $40 - $50 per night. Most campgrounds now have Wi-Fi available throughout the sites, but the quality of the service is spotty. The biggest saving comes with the food. If you cook your own meals in the RV, and plan for lunches on the road in the RV, food is not expensive, but you have to resist the urge to try the wonderful restaurants written up in the tourist information packages.

So, if you are planning a trip across the country . . . . I know the way.

Sunny Skies

Sunny Skies in the desert

I wrote a blog about the weather in Spain, because it was so different from the March weather back home in Nova Scotia, but I did not expect to be able to do the same thing on this trip. E-mails from home however, reveal that our home province is not having an exactly stellar summer.

By the time we get home we will have been on the road for almost sixty days, and we have literally not had one say “ruined” by rain. There has not been one day of solid rain. Most have been sunny - we have even looked on a cloudy day as a rarity.

Our first day of rain was in St. Louis, when we took Regis out for her birthday. The day driving was mostly sunny, but it clouded over late afternoon ,and when we were getting ready to walk downtown it started to sprinkle. It was enough to make me break out the umbrella, and although it was not needed on the walk down to the riverfront, it was pouring when we left the restaurant. As I said in the blog about this it was a pleasant warm rain and we enjoyed the walk back even with the rain. We had one other night with thunder storms overnight, but it was dry again when we got up in the morning.

The next part of the trip was through the dry part of the US, so we did not expect rain - “it’s a dry heat”. Through Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona you do not expect to see much rain, and we enjoyed hot sunny days every day; got sort of used to it actually.

Through California is was all sunny days as expected, but when we headed north to Oregon and Washington we expected rain, but it remained nice. Even Seattle, known for it’s damp, foggy “vampire-friendly” weather gave us sunshine.

Sunny Skies in the Mountains

When we arrived in BC, we were told by our friends that they were happy to see us, because we had brought the sunshine with us. BC was having a terrible summer up to this point, but we were rewarded with mostly sunny days for our visit to Vancouver.

The wedding on Vancouver Island was our next bit of rain, but it did nothing but cool the day off a bit, and provide some water to clean the chairs before the guests sat for the service. The showers stopped as the wedding began, and the sun was shining when the vows were spoken - a good sign I hope.

While parked at my sisters, one of the trees that Pete left standing deposited a bunch of very sticky sap on the truck. It looked like water, but when I turned the wipers on not only did it not wipe off, it tore a little piece off one wiper blade. No problem, as we did not have to use the wipers, and I did not find a convenient Toyota Dealer until we parked across from one in Minot, North Dakota.

Even Sunny in BC

Yesterday it showered a little while we were eating lunch on Mackinac Island, but it had stopped in time for Regis and I to take a bike ride around the island. There are dark clouds overhead today driving down I75 towards Flint and the border crossing back into Canada but no rain yet.

I’m still waiting to see how that new windshield wiper works. I’m hoping that I have hooked the nice weather onto the back of the trailer, and I’m willing to give up a bit in gas mileage to tow the sunshine home with us.

As I sit in the KOA in London Ontario - It is raining, actually raining hard. It rained a bit on the way here, but let up when we arrived allowing us to get set up without getting wet, only starting to rain as we were making supper.  Can't win them all I guess!

Favorites

Golden Gate Bridge

When people discover that I have done quite a lot of traveling, one of the inevitable questions that I get asked is about what my “favorite” place was.

The first time I was asked this, I had to stop and think, because nothing really jumped out as an obvious answer. The longer I thought, the more I realized that I really did not have a “favorite” destination. Although I have visited many very different countries, I realized that I enjoyed most of them and was unable to pin the “favorite” designation on any of them.

Cruising

I can’t even say I have a “favorite” type of travel. I’m a big fan of cruising, because it is trouble free, relaxing, and gives you a taste of many different places. RVing is similar in the different places you can see, and I really enjoy driving, so do not mind the time behind the wheel. Traveling to China to work for nine weeks showed me how interesting it is to spend an extended time in one place, and how this allows you to really get an understanding of the local culture. The month long trip to Spain was a result of wanting to do the same thing in another location. When the cold damp Nova Scotia February weather finally gets to me, I am perfectly happy to spend a week at an all inclusive resort in the Carribbean sipping cold beer under a beach umbrella.

I think the secret is to travel without expectations, and with an open mind. I have had many people complain that they found Egypt very dirty, and although we visited when the “rag pickers” were protesting the slaughter of their “compost-eating” pigs by the government by dumping what they would normally recycle by feeding to the pig onto the streets, I just took this in stride and enjoyed other aspects of the country. The Egyptians didn’t seem bother with it, and their ignoring the garbage gave me a better understanding of how they could allow a  national treasure like the pyramids to be so surrounded in litter. Other tourists found this deplorable, but I just accepted it as part of the Egyptian culture.

This attitude also allows me to overcome preconceived ideas of places. I had no interest in visiting New York city because I saw it just as a big dirty city with a high crime rate, but when it was the departure port for a cruise to Germany, I spent an enjoyable day exploring Manhattan and look forward to a return visit. Similarly, I have never had any interest in visiting Las Vegas, because I do no gamble, but my evening there on this trip has elevated the city to “return trip” list.

So, to answer your question . . . No I do not have a favorite place I have traveled to.

Adventure at Walmart

Sorry no pictures of this blog

Parking at Walmart is never my first choice for campsites. The Walmarts are usually open 24 hours, so you never know who will be driving by. They are reasonably safe, for the same reason, they are always open, and there are always people around. There are also usually other RVers parked with you, so it is better than parking in the wilderness, or alone in a parking lot. I would however much rather pay for a site with full service and get power, water, sewer, Internet, and cable TV, but when you have no other choice, Walmart is always there as a last resort.

That is exactly what happened last night. The severe flooding in the area, had closed two of the three campgrounds, and the third was VERY full. We were tired and no one felt like driving further with no guarantee of a campground with available sites. Our only choice was Walmart. We pulled in and found a site among the other RV. We left the truck attached, as Regis had found a nice looking restaurant in the same parking lot right across from the Trailer, and that would mean a quicker start in the morning.

Everyone was tired enough that we all went to bed as soon as it was dark, and settled in for a good night sleep.

So you get extra pictures

We all (well all except Dad who didn't hear a thing) awoke with a start at 1:30 AM, to shouting:

“GET OUT OF THE CAR AND ON THE GROUND!”

“WHERE IS THE GUN? TELL US NOW!”

“YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT A GUN AND POINTING A GUN; NOW WHERE IS IT?”

Did I leave 'Law & Order' on the TV? . . . . No, wait a minute, we have no power, we're at Walmart. Whoa, this is real!

The noise seemed right outside the trailer, so we cautiously got up and peered out through the back window, trying not to open the blinds too much.

There were five police cars and about eight police officers with guns drawn surrounding a gold car with all four doors open. They had a guy on the ground on his stomach with his arms handcuffed behind him. This was taking place no more than four yards from the back corner of our RV.

The shouting and questioning continued for about 30 minutes with the “Perp” denying any knowledge of a gun, but the police officers seemed to think he did have one. It ended with them taking him away in a police car, because his continued insistence that there was no gun got abusive, and things got quiet again. Fine for them; probably went and took a coffee break, but it is not easy to just go back to sleep after such excitement so close to 'home'.

The wind was strong in North Dakota, and it got stronger as the night went on. The trailer shook like in a hurricane and the wind was blowing things around. A metal pop can rattled around the camper for about 15 minutes, and something banged up against it at one point. It was wild enough that you couldn't get back to sleep.

Regis got to thinking about the police, and said “I heard something bump the RV before the police came. I bet it was the bad guy hiding the gun in between our trailer and the Motorhome beside us.”

I tried to convince her that this scenario was unlikely but she insisted on going outside to check, and she made me check the back of the truck in the morning. I was sort of hoping to find a discarded Glock 9 or a stolen Police issue Colt, but no such luck.

The wind seemed to get louder and wilder as the night went on, and just as that stupid pop can rattled out of hearing range, the wind shifted and it rolled back. I found it in the morning, still rolling around – one of those “Power Drinks”, the one with the wings . . . . crushed it flat – it will roll no more.

Meanwhile, Dad and the dog, slept through it all, and when we explained about our mid-night adventure dad questioned whether we were making it all up. At least one of us got a good sleep – we made him drive in the morning.

More Old Cars

Growing a Pontiac

For those who have been following my blog, you would have read about my difficult search for old American automobiles during the trip. Strangely, now that I am back in Canada, I have found all those old cars.

There are still lots of old cars out there, they are just hidden away from main roads where you don't notice them. The best way to find old cars is to ask someone who has lived in the area for a long time and knows everyone. I found a wonderful collection back home by visiting an old friend who took me to a neighbour who had twenty or thirty cars back behind old buildings and trees. While visiting Regis' uncle in Saskatchewan I asked him if he knew where any old cars were. He didn't really understand at first that I didn't want to see the nice beautiful restored cars, I wanted the old ones slowly sinking into the surrounding fields and vegetation, but after he thought for a moment, he suddenly smiled, “I know!” he said “I know a guy that has a whole row of old cars along his field.”

The first stop was his own old farm house where I remembered an old Pontiac sitting. It had been moved but was still on the farm, now sitting on four cement blocks because the frame was so rusty. He also had an old 57 Mercury one-ton in the barn. He tells me this truck was only available in Canada; built in Canada and only sold in Canada. It was in service constantly, hauling grain from the combine to the grain storage bins, and still works well.

Inside the Quonset

Next we drove across the road to his nephews farm, where after a few minutes of introductions I was sent down to a Quonset, where I was assured there were a few old vehicles. He wasn't kidding. There was an old Dodge in beautiful original condition, a 31 Oldsmobile with suicide doors, a 61 Impala convertible, two or three old pickups, various engines and parts, and hidden way in the back was a 1927 Nash, completely disassembled and labelled for rebuilding. When I mentioned it to Regis' uncle, he exclaimed “Hey, I used to own that car, bought it for $70.00, it ran like a top.” Coming out of the Quonset, I noticed some roof lines down a tree line behind the barn, and when I asked about what was there, His nephew had to think a minute before remembering that indeed there were a few old “wrecks” down there too. I have usually found that the people who, instead of trading in or recycling their old cars “put them out to pasture” tend to remember the few good old cars in the buildings, but the ones out back get forgotten, and they are amused when they discover that those are the ones I am really interested in.

Automobile Fence

Finally we drove to the farm where the “supposed” line of old cars was. As we swung into the road we were confronted by a massive 4 wheel drive tractor with triple tires on each corner with a 50' wide cultivator on the back. He stopped and was a bit hesitant at first when asked about his old cars, but instructed us to a parking lot that was itself full of old cars. After we chatted a bit and he realized that Regis' uncle and his father were old friends, he said it was Ok to take a few pictures in the parking lot, and when I came back to interrupt the ongoing talk of grain, tractors, combines and other “Farm” talk, I was invited back to the farm to look at the real row of cars. In fact, I was even told that I could take the dirt bike across the field to the trees hiding the cars.

Dodge Brothers Truck

This row of old cars was exactly what I look for. There was over a ¼ mile of cars from the 50, 60, and 70 all lined up bumper to bumper along a line of spruce trees. Most were Chevrolets, Pontiacs, and Oldsmobiles, from the 60, but there was an old Dodge Brothers truck, a Desoto, and even an old Honda Civic stuck on top of something a lot older. There was a definite “Brand Loyalty” here and I decided we were lucky to be allowed in the yard with the Ford truck we were driving. Many of them were decorated with scrap farm implements, bicycles, and other metal bits. Some of them were completely covered by vegetation taking over, and some were almost unidentifiable. I could have spent hours there taking pictures, but did not want to overstay my welcome, and Regis' uncle was waiting in the truck, so after walking the length of the row, I chose a few of the best to photograph.

I will have to come back again to take some more pictures. I bet he knows some more good “hidden Vehicles”

Trains

Not a real train . . . . . an art studio

I have discovered an interesting connection between trains and RV parks while on this trip. We have very few trains left in Nova Scotia, and many of the old rail lines are now Trans Canada Trails, so trains are no longer part of our lives.

On the trip to Tennessee with Regis’ mom and uncle & aunt last year, her Aunt Monie asked us to try to find campgrounds away from trains, because on another trip, she had one sleepless night due to loud trains. We only had one night where a train was heard, but on this trip I learned to appreciate her concern with trains.

We have had a lot of campgrounds that were in close proximity to trains, and at least three that had trains running directly behind the trailer. Of course this fact is rarely advertised in the campground books and flyers, and the tracks are usually hidden by trees, so unless someone mentions it in online reviews, you don’t find out about they until you get settled and the train goes by.

The worse was the campground in Lake Louise. There was an emergency exit from the park close to our site, and because it was not a regular road, it did not have an elevated crossing or automated lights and barrier system, so every train had to blow it’s whistle to warn of it’s approach. And, there were trains all day and all night.

I have decided there is a connection between these trains and the RV parks. I got to wondering why there seemed to be so many trains so close to campgrounds, and I think I have a theory . . .

A Train Behind the Trees

Trains are loud, so no one really wants to live right next to train tracks, so houses and apartments are build with a buffer between the tracks and where people live. That then gives you some perfectly good land, often nicely positioned to services and attractions, that is not worth much. It is good for business and industry, but someone also figured out that it could also work for RV parks. After all, the people who use them are only there for a couple of nights, and then on to another park. If the park has “seasonal” (those folks who use their RV as a “camp” and leave it in one place all year), can take the sites as far away from the tracks as possible, leaving the ones bordering on the tracks for the transient campers.

To be honest, we have sort of gotten used to the sound of trains rumbling by in the middle of the night, and although the last two nights we were not close to tracks, we listened and were pleased to hear trains in the distance.

Vancouver

STOP, I saw Kibble on sale back there . . .

We were looking forward to arriving in Vancouver, because it meant we could spend some time visiting our friends, and we were looking forward to a break from the RV, as we were invited to stay with them at their apartment, overlooking Vancouver Harbour. The  RV is a nice comfortable “home away from home”, but it is still small, so a chance for a real bed, a real bathroom, and a bit of extra room (their apartment is a “Vancouver” apartment), was a welcome treat.

We have visited Vancouver a number of times, and always enjoy this vibrant Canadian city, and always look forward to seeing what the city has to offer. One thing that Vancouver had lots of is some of the best “people watching” in the country. Spending time sitting in the many outdoor sidewalk cafes around Vancouver, and you definitely see evidence of Southern California’s eccentricity creeping north into BC.

The first night in Vancouver, we were walking back to the skytrain after a fabulous meal at the Alibi Room in Gastown, and in a group of people walking towards us was a young woman casually walking along completely topless. She was just walking down the street chatting with friends, but had decided not to wear any shirt. She wasn’t flaunting her toplessness, she was just out walking. I might have missed her except for my propensity for “people watching” - Regis completely missed her.

There are lots of homeless in Vancouver, as would be expected of a city with a warm relatively pleasant climate, but they certainly have adapted a different attitude towards the “homeless” here. A news story in the paper this morning tells of a fellow who has been banned from a local community. The people having “homes” there report that he doesn’t meet the minimum standards for “their ’homeless’”, who know how they are expected to act, and are therefor allowed to be “homeless” there. Huhhhhhhhhh????

There was the guy with the long white snake this morning, another guy all dressed on orange - shoes, socks, suit, everything. There was the woman completely covered with paint or tattoos, sitting in the coffee shop as if this was perfectly normal. There was always someone interesting to see whenever we went out to explore the city. Oh, and it wasn’t only the people - there were two dogs riding along with their owners on motorcycles.

We really enjoyed our time in Vancouver, and it’s interesting and eccentric people certainly adds to the city’s charm. 

Beer

I have made it one of my “travel mandates”, to find and taste as many locally brewed beers as possible. This was especially fun while on the canal boat in England, and I found over 25 interesting local brews in our two weeks there. A positive side affect of sampling the local brews, is that when you ask for something “local”, you usually get a positive response from the servers, who seem to have a degree of pride in their local breweries, and are often very willing to give opinions on which local beers are best. One server in Bangor, Maine, was so interested in my opinion of the local ales, that after sampling one, he insisted on me trying the second at no charge.

The brews in America, do not have the variety or the flavor of the beers in England, but what can you expect from the land where “Bud Light” is usually the beer of choice. By ordering the local “craft” beers, you can get a brew with some taste and personality.

A partial list of the brews I have sampled on this trip so far follows. Most are from the later part of the trip, because I forgot to write the names down from the East Coast where I found some good ones, and had difficulty in the Central States finding “local” beer. A waitress in Ohio, had no idea what I meant when I asked for a “craft” beer.

Grand Canyon Amber Ale - Grand Canyon Brewing Co.

Ugly Pug Black Lagar - Rahr & Son’s Brewing, Fort Worth, Texas

Laguritas I P A - Laguritas Brewing Company, Petaluma, California

Moonlight ’Reality Czeck Pilsner’ - Santa Rosa, California

Downtown Brown - Lost Coast Brewery & Cafe, Eureka, California

I had a nice beer with my lunch during a stop in Death Valley, that the server said was “local”, but I’m not sure how they get enough water to make beer on the hottest driest spot in North America.

I see that I have an email from Alisha (daughter), asking when we will be arriving in Vancouver. She is visiting a friend there, who has worked in the brewing industry, and has a great local brew he wants me to try. That’s what happens when you develop a reputation for enjoying good local beer. I think I’ve said it before . . . . But. . . .life is tough!

Automobiles in America

Nice old Hudson

I like cars. In fact I like anything mechanical. I enjoy motorcycles, trains, trucks, airplanes, and even farm machinery. When I travel, I am constantly on the lookout for interesting cars sharing the road with me. For my car-nut friends, here are some of the vehicles I have encountered so far.

We saw a nice variety of porsches while driving across Texas. Everything from a nice 356 to new boxers and other new models to a very rusty 914, all heading in the opposite direction; I’m assuming to a local Porsche gathering.

We passed Denny Hamlin’s Sprint Cup car on the way to Kentucky Speedway, and one of his show cars parked next to us at a rest stop.

Through New Mexico I saw four nice professional off-road racing buggies on their way to an event, and there was an NHRA drag race the weekend after we left San Francisco, so I saw a lot of dragsters on their way to the event.

On the bus in Las Vegas, we followed a nice red ferrari down the “Strip”.

Did you know that BMW’s little convertible two seated sports car is exactly the same length as the width of an 18 wheeler? I know this from coming across an accident on a long bridge where a little white BMW was neatly stuck to the front bumper of a big truck. It had just happened, and the driver who didn’t look badly hurt was still in the car. Imagine getting into a situation where you are being pushed down the road sideways by an 18 wheeler on your drivers door. The car fit so nicely on the front of the semi, that I doubt that either driver could see the other - very scary for both drivers!

While Driving through Oakland, California, a member of the famous (or infamous) Oakland chapter of the Hells Angles passed us on his Harley.

Peugeot Pickup?

Outside the nice little lunch spot I blogged about previously, was parked a Peugeot pickup truck. It was probably from the early sixties, and I suspect a home-made pickup, since I was not aware Peugeot even made a pickup, especially for export to the states.

I have read articles stating that the days of finding classic American automobiles sitting beside the road, in old barns, or in wrecking yards was long over. I can report that this is definitely not so, especially through the South-West. I suspect you will not find many two door 1957 Chevys waiting for you to restore, but I saw lots of interesting vehicles from the 50s, 60s & 70s sitting wanting loving restoration.

Being Towed to a better life

We pulled into a rest stop in Arizona, and a road beside the access ramp were were six pickups from the  50 all parked in a row, quietly rusting away, but mostly intact, and still on inflated tires. In Nevada, I saw three old sedans from the 50s sitting abandoned beside the road, looking like they had failed on a trip out old route 66, and have remained there ever since. We passed a junk yard off to one side of the road where I saw about four Corvairs sitting in a row, all looking restorable.

I would have loved to stop and add some of these “Sleeping Beauties” to my collection of photographs of old abandoned vehicles, but this is difficult when pulling a trailer. I had a difficult time just finding a picture for the blog posting, and was lucky to get the one old car you see here. If I was driving a car I would have been able to stop and explore some of these old cars. I guess it’s just another excuse to come back another time.

A Bit Rustic . . .

A "Rustic Park"

Ok now, you already read my rant about the different campgrounds we have run into, but tonight's campground is worth a few words.

A year or so ago, we discovered Passport America, a discount RV service that gives you 50% off the regular rate on campgrounds. Of course not all campgrounds are on their list. It is mostly campgrounds a little off the beaten track, or newly opened ones wanting to increase their clientele. If you can find one on your route, it is definitely worth while.

When we left San Francisco, we had no set destination in mind, because we did not know how long it would take me to install the two new springs, and we had no clear idea how far we would get. Once we were on the road and the trailer seemed to be bouncing along just fine, we started figuring out where we could get, and where we might stop for the night. It looked like Redding California was a workable destination.

I decided to give the “Travel Planner” a break, and since dad was driving and Regis was navigating, I took the campground directories, and tried to find a campground for the night. The Passport America directory listed a campground just past Redding. It was called “Trail In” and it listed lots of sites, full service and was only a mile off the I-5 Interstate which we were following. I looked in Woodall's and found a number of other places, but nothing that was that much better than this one. Now as we drove by Redding we did see a place called “Durango Resort” with fountains, paved sites and lots of BIG expensive rigs, but we decided it was probably in the $75.00 range so we ignored it and kept going.

Yum, fresh blackberries

The instruction in the directory, agreed with the GPS, and when we were told to “Enter on the Right”, the sign and entry were actually on the right. The hand lettered signs directed us to the office, and we parked and Regis and I went it. Two young men sitting on the front deck said “hello” and tipped a beer to me as I walked in. Behind the counter was another young man with a pony-tail who said “You planning to stay with us tonight?”.

I told him we would like to stay, and he said it was $25.00. Regis pulled out her Passport America Card and I plunked a couple of locally brewed beer I found in the cooler on the counter, and he changed the price to $20.00 all in.

Normally when you enter a campground you get a map, code for the washrooms & laundry, location of the various amenities, and “Rules”. Here he said if you want a pull-through, just drive around the office, follow the road and pick a site you like the looks of. No rules, no instructions, no nothing. Regis reluctantly asked about WiFi Internet, not expecting much. He looked at her and replied “Oh, you want internet, no problem, I'll watch where you park and I'll point the router in your direction so you get a good signal. Enjoy your stay!”

Now it's no KOA, but we have 30 amp, Cable TV, and full hookup. Dad reports that the washrooms and showers are the “Shower-Shoes” variety, but not really that bad. It is a nice quiet campground right in the mountains, and just fine for the night. I even found a patch of California blackberries down the drive that were just ripening – just perfect to add to Sharon's fruit salad she was preparing for dessert.

Lunch in a Barn

With a day to wait for new springs to get the trailer bouncing back down the road, we decided to take a trip up the coast through the Sonoma Valley, across and back down the Napa Valley. We decided to try to find a couple of wineries to visit for tasting, and find someplace to have a nice lunch.

The first thing we discovered was that the biggest problem in finding a winery to visit was not in finding one it was in choosing which one to visit. There are literally hundreds of wineries along the way. They are one after the other all along the route, and they all seem to have tasting rooms. Purely by chance, we picked two to stop at. They ended up being a good contrast, and gave us a good taste of the region.

Kendall Jackson Winery

The first was the Kendall Jackson Winery. This is a brand I know from home, and I can buy their wine in Canada. It is a very high end winery, and was situated on a huge estate with an amazing garden. There was a “Garden” tour starting just as we arrived, so I bought a glass of one of their reds, and went out into a beautiful “Not a cloud in the sky” California summer day to casually tour their gardens with a guide. It was very pleasant to stroll through the beautiful estate from garden to garden with the guide explaining about the various plants and garden designs while sipping on a glass of delicious Californian wine. It certainly made me forget all about having to fix the trailer tomorrow.

Our next stop was a smaller winery called Foppiano Vineyards. It was considerable smaller, and much more casual. In fact as I was tasting and purchasing a bottle of wine we discovered that the owner was there in the room and quite impressed that these folk from Nova Scotia were all the way out here tasting his wine. Again, the wine was excellent. I liked all the samples, but chose a “Petit Sarrah” which I discovered was a good choice since it is their speciality.

You know, this wine tasting is a fun activity – it might be worth another visit to California . . .

BarnDiva for Lunch

Then came the real treat of the day. Everyone was getting a bit hungry, so we stopped at a little town called Healdsburg, where we were told we would find a good choice of eating places. We drove into town and parked in a nice 3 hour limit (Free) parking spot right on the town square – gives you an indication of the size of the town. Sure enough, there were a number of interesting places to have lunch. I scouted on ahead to look around , and after seeing all that the streets on the square had to offer, I headed down a side street where I saw an interesting looking little pub. After rejecting the “Pub”, I noticed a large red building with umbrellas in front, and an old funky truck parked out front. It was called “Barndiva”, and proved to be a real “find”.

There was a menu posted out front, and I immediately liked the look of it. I thought this was a place Ryan (Our Son) would approve of. It boasted a “Sustainable” menu of local food, and the items on the menu all seemed very interesting. Well, they did to me . . . . dad grumbled about not seeing anything he would want. Sharon & Regis agreed, so poor dad was once again outvoted (We got him through Death Valley on a “majority” vote as well), and we went in.

This really was a top class restaurant. The food was amazing, the service was exemplary, and the atmosphere was very nice. In fact it was so good, you sort of forgot that it was a ethical eating establishment.

Two examples of the service were; our water glasses were refilled the entire time we were there, including after we finished and were waiting to leave; and when Regis got up to go to the washroom, the waitress came over and refolded her napkin – I've never seen that before. All the wait staff were attendant, but never pushy.

A delicious menu!

The food was the real treat. Everything was amazing! I ordered a salad of Heirloom beets, Apple, Endive, Avocado, Watercress, Walnut, and Warm Chevre. I asked the waitress if I could substitute Goat cheese for the Chevre cheese, explaining my difficulty with cows milk. She said she thought that it was a goats cheese anyway , but would check with the kitchen. She did however suggest that it was a “Light” meal and wondered if I'd like an appetizer. I said “No, I thought I'd be fine.” but she then mentioned the “Goat Cheese Croquettes with House-made Tomato jam and Lavender Honey” OMG how did she know that was my second choice? I ordered it to share with everyone.

The goat cheese croquettes were delicious little deep fried balls of goat cheese mixed with Tomato jam and lightly coated in a crumb crust sitting in lavender honey. I'm sorry Linda Saunders, but I have to steal your expression – it was “To Die For!”.

My main course was an amazing mixture of roasted red and white beets mixed with apple, walnuts, avocado, and orange, with just enough “greens” to call it a salad. I do not know what the dressing was, and I don't care, because what ever it was it worked to perfection. I was pleased to note that the chef decided not to chance the possibility of cows milk in the cheese, and instead gave me two more of the Goat cheese croquettes – yum!

Oops, forgot the picture . . . .

Everyone's meal was equally delicious. Regis and Sharon had the Crab Club sandwiches, and Dad had the Quiche. By the time he started his meal, even he was raving about the taste. I have included a photo of the menu so you can see the other amazing choices. Sorry Alisha, the food was so good all I got for a photo was empty plates!

We even decided to have dessert, since there was a fabulous sounding strawberry shortcake, and the waitress had the cook make me a special “milk free” sorbet to go with the French Press coffee.

This really was an amazing find and a wonderful addition to an interesting day in California. In fact we took so long enjoying the delicious lunch, we had very little time to tour the rest of the Napa valley.

Spring Wine (Or Spring Break)

Lovely Scenery - Terrible Roads!

 

For those who are not RVers, the trailers and Rvs I am writing about are basically houses built on a steel truck frame. Some of the real classic trailers like the Airstream are built with an aluminium, frame, and some like the Boler we had are a nice fibreglass shell mounted on a steel frame. The Boler was an amazing trailer, light, strong and well designed, but it looked like two fibreglass bathtubs pop riveted together with some windows and a door cut into the sides. Modern RVer, insist on oak cupboards, flat screen TVs, arm chairs, and microwaves. In other words they want a “Home away from Home”, and they want it to look and feel like home. The result is a big square wooden structure like a house attached to a truck frame. But of course to tow it behind even a big truck it has to be light, the result is a compromise, and it results in shifting, bending, and breaking. Nothing ever broke on the Boler in years of service, but so far , we've bent a wheel, the back venetian blind has fallen down twice, one light fixture fell off, and two cupboard door handles have fallen off. Oh, yea, two of the springs that keep all this “homeyness” rolling down the road have broken.

Looking back, I suspect that the loud bang we heard as Regis was coming down the twisty narrow mountain roads in Yosemite National Park was one of the springs finally giving up and snapping, but I didn't notice it then. The trailer was making a lot of noise, but it does on bumpy roads anyway, so we didn't worry about it. However in the morning as I was checking everything over prior to leaving San Francisco to drive up the coast, I noticed that one spring was broken in half, with just one end holding the axle in place. We were not going far with that. We had a spare, but dad must have cleaned that out when getting ready for the trip. We went to the local RV shop, but although he could get the part, he could not do the work today. I elected to pick up the part and do it myself.

I got everything apart, and in the process discovered that a spring on the other side was also broken but not so bad. Fortunately I had bought two springs just in case. When I went to put the nice shiny new spring into place, it would not fit. A measurement revealed I was sold 26” springs and needed 23” ones. A phone call informed me that 23” ones were not in stock and would have to be ordered – a two day wait. We reregistered at the campground, put things back together (as good as the stripped threads, and bent brackets would allow), and went back to the site.

So with two more days in San Francisco, we have decided to take the rest of the day to just relax here. I worked on a walking stick, Regis tried to keep up on her reading for all her book clubs back home, dad took a nap, and Sharon found some temporary “Grandkids” Next door to make a fuss over (Sorry Jasmine, Nicki, Alex and Drew). Tomorrow we will leave the trailer here and go up the coast in the truck and visit some of the California Napa valley wineries. Life is tough!

Between a Rock & a Hard Place

Note trees & big rock . . . . .

When traveling with an RV, you need to find a place to park every night. With a 28 foot trailer, you need plenty of room to maneuver,  so a site that you can simply pull into (a “pull-through”) is easiest. The compromise with these however is that they tend to be open sites with no shade.  In 30 - 40 degree heat, a bit of shade is appreciated, but although I’m getting better a backing the trailer into tight spots, we usually ask for the easier pull-through sites.

After driving through Death Valley, we started looking for a campsite. We were headed towards Yosemite National Park, and although there were lots of RVs and big trailers on the roads with us, the trend seemed to be towards smaller unserviced sites for tents or small trailers. There were lots of sites in Yosemite, and the various state parks, and forests, but after a long hot drive through Death Valley, we wanted water, electricity, and a hot shower. Regis found a place called “Pine Cliff Resort”, that had over 300 sites, and plenty had services, so we headed there.

The first indication of trouble was when we couldn’t see the sign for the park. After going by, and taking a scenic tour to the nearby town, we were pointed back where we came from. This time we saw a little sign peeking out of the weeds on the left side of the road - the instructions in the book said “enter on right” - no wonder we didn't see it. At least we had found the park.

While waiting for Dad & Sharon to register, Jasper and I observed that this park was going to have plenty of shade, built into the side of the mountain, and full of huge tall pine trees.

Dad come back with rather sketchy instruction to our site. “Go around that big rock, either side is OK, between those trees, and back in there. Just getting there was interesting, having to judge where to turn the truck to keep the trailer from clipping the trees and huge rocks. When we got there the site looked pretty tight, and there was not much room to maneuver. The fellow parked behind the site, stood up from his table and came over, "You gonna try to put that trailer in there? My Buddy took eight tries to get in there and his was smaller than yours. The guy across the road chimed in "I'll move my truck; you'll need all the room you can get!"

With Dad, Regis and Sharon guiding me, and with a few suggestions from the neighbors, I started backing in. There was a large pine tree on either side of the entrance to the site, and a large rock on one side. There was a concrete pad on the other side, and the power and water stuck up beside the rock. I almost got it in, but got too close to the tree with the truck. Even with tucking the mirror in, it was not going to work. I pulled out and tried again, no, still too close to the tree. I got out and looked everything over. I pulled out and tried to start further up the road, pulling almost into the site across the road - good thing he moved his truck. This time I got the trailer in, but we realized that it had to be over so the tires were almost touching the concrete pad in order for the slideout to come out without hitting the power and water. Another try and I got it in pretty well - Check level? No, . . .  got to pull forward to block one side. This time everything looked good, and both neighbors congratulated us for getting it in. I felt good since it took his "buddy" eight tries.

In the morning we had to get back out. Dad had gone for a walk to scope out the best way to exit the night before with Jasper the RV Dog, and they thought they had it cased.

Dad pulled out of the site fine. Up the road, and around the Fish cleaning house (Yup - they had a fish cleaning house), and out between two trees. The trees were close, so we asked the fellow across the road to move his truck. He said "No problem, but you should know that the last guy who tried to come out this way got himself wedged in tight." We got out and it was pretty close, but we were committed by now. Dad inched the trailer forward, but there was no way it would fit. The awning was going to catch on the tree. He had to back up and try again. The fellow on the other side came out of his trailer and added "Watch the slope by the tree on the left - if you come too close to that one, it will tip your trailer into the other tree. Dad backed it up again, moving a bit to the left but not so much to tip the trailer. He inched it forward and I guided him, the awning just touched, chipping the bark, but not anything serious. We had made it out.

Dad suggested that it looked quite a bit wider last night.

I think we will look for a pull-through tomorrow.

Las Vegas in 90 Minutes

Las Vegas

We are visiting lots of places on this trip, but ultimately our goal, and purpose is to visit my sister in British Columbia and attend her son’s wedding. As a result we are driving through many places that could be vacation destination on their own. Las Vegas, Nevada is an example, we arrived at about 2:00 pm, but planned to leave for Death Valley in the morning. We had to see Las Vegas in one evening.

The campground staff recommended, we get a 24 hour ticket for the “Deuce”, a double decker bus that we could use all evening and could hop off and on whenever we wanted. While waiting for the bus, we struck up a conversation with another visitor who had already been using the bus, and she suggested some good places to visit. She said that most of the big casinos allowed anyone to just wander the premises. Most of them have some big attraction to lure prospective gamblers in, and they are usually free.

Tourists

We discovered that the campground really was, as advertised, “within walking distance” of the famous “Las Vegas Strip”, and in fact it was close to some of the biggest casinos. We were just a couple of blocks from Caesar’s Palace, the Ballagio Casino, as well as two or three other well known casinos The campground itself is attached to the Circus Circus Casino, which is itself a huge one.

We hopped off the bus at Caesar’s Palace, and were presented with Las Vegas in all her excessive, opulent, glory. You really just had to pause a moment at take it all in. These casinos are absolutely huge. You can wander around them for hours. They have entire shopping malls under their roofs, and you have at least ten choices of eatery, everything from VERY high end restaurants, to fast food chains. You can get your hair cut, your nails done, your entire body massaged, and pretty much anything else you might want. Yes, I really think you could get “anything” without leaving the casino complex. The reminded me of a cruise ship only on a much bigger scale with much more emphasis on the casino aspect.

Las Vegas Lake?

We wandered through Caesar’s Palace, the Bellagio, and Circus Circus, and I think this gave us a pretty good idea of Las Vegas. Circus Circus had a carnival, circus theme, complete with a huge indoor amusement park with roller coaster, flume ride and kiddie merry-go-round, a circus big top, and all the expected “carny” games and booths. Regis, Sharon, and I went here after dark, and they said they were glad I was there to lead them back to the RV, because if they were alone they would have still been wearily wandering around this morning trying to find their way home.

I know that given time to really explore Las Vegas, you would discover that it is more than just huge opulent casinos (or maybe not), and I’d like to come back, stay at one of the hotel/casino complexes and see more of “The City that never sleeps” but I think our little one evening visit gave us a pretty good slice of this city.

Jasper the RV Dog

Jasper the RV Dog

There are actually five of us on this trip. Dad’s little nine pound Rottweiler, Jasper (he is actually a Shih-Tzu) is along with us, and very much a part of the company.

We have taken our cat across the country with us, but she just stayed in the RV. A dog is a lot more work. He has to be walked, and given a chance to do his social networking duties - peeing on things to announce he was there.

Jasper did not start out as a good traveler. He wants to go, but when he gets in the truck, he will not settle down, panting, and pacing. He wants to sit on someone’s lap and that is not allowed; he does not understand why he cannot sit on a lap. We decided that we had to establish his boundaries, and decided to put him on the floor when he wouldn’t behave. He found a way around this, by simply deciding that the floor was his favorite spot - so much for punishment!

He actually settled in pretty good, and has developed a routine. He now goes into the back seat, and almost immediately settles down on the floor. He moves back and forth from side to side, but sometimes, is so quiet, that “where is the dog?” is a common expression. He can tuck himself under the back seat so we can’t even see him.

There are two things that Jasper does not like, lightning, and rumble strips. He gets so upset he does not know what to do. He wants up, he wants down, he wants . . . . he doesn’t know what he wants. Actually he just wants the lightning to stop! The rumble strips are another matter. He used to panic every time you drove over one. Of course with the trailer it is worse because eight tires instead of four are rumbling. On a narrow little road in Pennsylvania there were not only rumble strips on the side of the road, but also in the middle. You couldn’t avoid them in a fifty foot long vehicle. Poor Jasper was frantic. The trip has actually been good for helping him learn that the rotten rumble strips can’t hurt him, because after 17 days, he is getting used to them, and unless you are on them a long time he ignores them.

Jasper had a very traumatic experience last evening. The KOA RV park had a very nice “doggie playground”, and I was teasing Dad and Sharon, that if they were good doggie parents, they would take him over there to play. Sharon finally agreed, and I went with them. There were two big ugly white dogs there already, but as soon as we opened the gate their owners assured us their dogs was “OK”. Sharon let Jasper off his leash, and he started exploring, ignoring the other dogs.

Not so with the other “OK” dogs, one charged at him, running him over in a cloud of dust, and chomped down on him. The owner immediately yelled “No, he is too small to play with!”, and came to separate them. I think they actually thought he was a nice moving “chew toy”. By then, the owners were upset, and as a result their dogs got upset, and the other one went after Jasper as he tried to get away. Fortunately he wasn’t hurt, but he definitely did not like being used as a “chew toy”. He did not like going to the “doggie playground” after that.

As I write this we are rolling down highway 95 towards Death Valley (Harolyn’s advice), and Jasper is happily sleeping under the back seat by Regis’ feet. He seems to be settling into this RV trip just fine.