Oct. 17 - Whistler, Vancouver

On Oct. 17th, we moved our rig and family up to Vancouver, British Columbia.  I'd like to say we had a wonderful time, but I can't.  We had some fun there but overall, it was not my favorite part of the trip!   Several factors contributed to the less-than experience.  Wrong time of year - too cold, cloudy, rainy most of our visit.  Too expensive - from the RV park to the ferry to the food, and, of course, the gas!!  The RV park (Pacific Border RV Park, technically in Surrey) itself - too cramped and they didn't want dogs relieving themselves inside the park at all so we had to walk them all the way to the entrance/exit before they could do their business (OK if you're parked right near the gate and it's sunny and warm out!  But we ended up at the very back and got to do the walk in rain and freezing cold darkness way too often!  The time or two when Ouray just couldn't hold it and peed on their pavement, I nearly cheered!).  And it didn't help that we had a run-in with our way-too close neighbors upon parking (before they moved us to another site that could accommodate a longer stay).  Parking a big rig in an unfamiliar and very tight space/park can be a stressful experience, and our neighbor (the wife) and a couple other bystanders formed a ridiculous and thoughtless peanut gallery, replete with loud parking critique comments and all.  And when I (politely as I could muster at the time) told her to knock it off, she just got defensive.  It amazed me, as I would've thought someone who was familiar with the parking logistics would be more sympathetic!  But maybe her husband always does all the work by himself, and they looked to be seasonals so probably don't have to park that often.  But still!!  Actually, I think she was trying to be funny and "just kidding around," but the humor part wasn't working too well and was certainly lost on me (and Bill)!  

And Complaint #552?  A friend (who lived in Vancouver but was from Australia and we met in Nova Scotia!) we'd planned on meeting up with couldn't after all.  Complaint #553:  the reason for our extended stay in an RV park we would've rather not been in at all (even though it had the best reviews in the area...!  Doesn't bode well for RVing in the Vancouver area!)?  Car and RV trouble.  Yup, more of the same.  The first part was something that looked to Bill like a serious oil leak/issue on the RV.  So we decided to stay put over the weekend when we didn't think the nearest Freightliner would be open anyways (as it turned out later, Bill was able to deal with the RV problem himself).  But then a few days later, our truck developed a serious transmission problem, limiting us to 35mph or less!  While that stole away our last day of potential fun, I am grateful that it didn't happen any sooner!

 On the 18th, we had a sunny day and took advantage of it to drive up to Whistler, the big ski resort area I'd always heard of.   It's a nice town with cute buildings.

 But the drive up is what's so spectacular!   The "Sea to Sky Highway" 99 winds its way up against the rugged mountainsides and around the fjord-like oceanfront.  Here's an image of the sun setting on our way back.  I was sorry not to get more images of this drive, but I was the driver, only had my p&s, and had a tired, back-hurting, getting more impatient to get home by the minute passenger!  And, an example of the cost of things here?  I just found on-line that they have a train ride that runs alongside the highway.  A one-way ticket (includes transport to the train station and a 3 1/2 hr ride) is $135-235!!  Compare this to an almost all-day, round-trip excursion on the cool Durango - Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado (also rugged mountains and incredible scenery) - $83 and up.  

OK, just one more photo - to whet your appetite...!?!  Looks more like a Chinese market, yeah?!  Well, maybe they have a big Chinese population there!  Chicken feet.  Yum!  Ever tried them?  I have, and if you haven't?  Don't!!!

Oct. 15 - Mt. Baker

Bill and I took advantage of one of the few sunny, relatively warm days to drive up to Mt. Baker, a beautiful snow-covered mountain in the North Cascades.

 Bill and me in front of Mirror Lake (aptly named!), which is obviously in front of Mt. Baker!

 Down to just my point & shoot, none of these photos do the scene any justice whatsoever.  No, seriously, the p&s just blows out the snowy mountain scenes.  Without filters and greater capacity for capturing subtleties in the dynamic range, you end up with too high of contrast and inevitably lose some valuable chunk of the photo.  I could either have the top half exposed sort of correctly or the bottom half but not both in the same image!  And forget any kind of resolution!  If you want to see a really nice photo of this mountain and lake (same time of year and everything), look here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/55256003@N08/5121207124/  It was really tough not having my SLR when confronted by such beauty, and that was compounded by the feeling of me no longer being "one of us."  A small horde of SLR-owning, tripoded folks were always to be found on that little platform you can see on the left.  But I was no longer one of them.  I could not stake a claim to being one of the lucky many who could capture a decent image of the place.  I felt left out, irrelevent, illegitimate, nearly shunned.  From now on, I will have more compassion for those holding teeny little metal boxes up to the view - you never know, they could very well just be displaced SLR users!

 Looking the other direction, the lighting/subject matter was not such high contrast and came out OK, more or less.  But that wasn't where the big deal stuff was either!

 A trail rings this popular (and even with my shabby photos, you can see why!) lake.

 The best I could do...  OK, so it was also probably the wrong time of day (too bright out, etc.), but I know I could've gotten better shots anyways with my SLR had it not been in hospital (boo-hoo)!

 Mt. Baker is nearly 11,000 ft tall, heavily glaciated, volcanic (second most active volcano in the range next to Mt. St. Helens, and you know how that turned out!), and often has tons of snow.

A sign for a fish - and ice cream!?! - market between Anacortes and Burlington...  Mmmm, all the references to seafood sure make that ice cream sound yummy, don't you think?!!  Can't you just taste that shrimp ice cream or maybe some oyster gelato or something?!  Yicky!!!!!!  I wonder who thought those two types of food would market well together...?!  But who am I to say?  Maybe they sell tons of the stuff!?!

Morning stroll

 One morning, we took the kitties for a walk in Anacortes' Rotary Park.

 Man on the move.

 Checking it all out.

 Watching a dog (and owners) coming.

 Watching the dog (and owners) going.

(I think the dog was just a bit too eager.  That puts the kitties on edge (of course, Scratty's already on edge here, literally!) - notice the puffed-out tail, scruffy back fur, and agitated looks!)

 As much as he loves going, and even though he has been known to hike at least a mile before, Tractor sometimes poops out and opts for an easier-going option!

Back in the car.  One of our two contented kitties.

Odds & Ends

 La Conner, WA, from the Rainbow Bridge.  A small town, located on the Swinomish Channel of the Skagit River, which looked to cater primarily to the arts & tourism.

 If this photo looks a little fuzzy, it may be because at this point, my camera was just limping along.  I can't remember if I mentioned this on my blog or not, but somewhere between Canada and Washington, my camera slid off a table, suffering hitherto unknown consequences.  We had stopped for gas, and I had set my camera on our desk to go make us some sandwiches for lunch.  I forgot about it until we drove off, went around a corner, and heard a loud thud.  You can imagine how awful it was to THIS camera owner to realize what THAT sound meant!!!!  Ouch and Oh NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  At first, there was no obvious damage, and I was hugely relieved!  But it gradually became clear that there was some damage, but the initial signs of it were weird.  The scene through the viewfinder appeared miniaturized, with parts sometimes becoming distorted.  It was hard to see what I was looking at and to know if it was in focus.  But it still took the photos - and mostly they came out fine.  So for the time being, I was able to put off that horrid thought of having to be camera-less, to have to send my camera body in for repairs...  But after a few days, the show was over.  I could no longer see through the viewfinder and so, in these bridge shots, I was pointing the camera and hoping for the best, using the LCD (after the fact) to see if I'd gotten anything at all.

 On the waterfront in La Conner.

 On a drive to the Anacortes ferry terminal, we had to stop by this enticing housing development - the San Juan Passage (http://www.sanjuanpassage.com/).  I don't think Bill or I have ever really entertained the thought or desire to live in an area like this, but these homes were so cute and the location/view so splendid, we had to at least stop and investigate a little!  Upon closer inspection, I would've wished for better construction quality, especially given the outrageously high price tags (typical, though, I understand for WA living!).  But still cute buildings with neat design details and hard to beat views, if you like looking at that sort of thing, you know - islands and ocean!

Does looking at this make you feel sick?  Well typing it made ME feel REAL sick!!!!  (no, the camera's broken parts didn't make images come out like this - this was just me screwing around, "saying good-bye" to my electronic appendage)  My camera finally gave up the ghost, making me give it up to the Canon repair facility in Irvine, CA.  Those shots of La Conner from the bridge were the last shots my camera would allow.  Something internal finally came loose from it moorings and blocked the viewfinder completely, and unlike the newer equipment these days, the viewfinder is the ONLY way of seeing what you are photographing (the LCD screen is only for reviewing images after they're taken).  Fate called my bluff.   With tons of padding and insurance and tracking promises, I mailed off my mechanical baby.  While certainly minor compared to the potential ills of life, this was a big blow for yours truly.  Taking photos was a huge part of my enjoyment of our travels - obviously!  So, for a part of me, the trip was over the moment the camera broke...

Oct. 9 - North Cascades National Park

I'd always heard about the Cascades in WA, so on this day I went to see them!

 And what do you suppose was the name of this little town??  And what do you think this giant containment structure was made out of?  Ya think?

 Lush ranch land.

 Lush rain forest.

 Lush lawn - and matching roof!

 Cute little roadside chapel.

 This was funny.  Many of us tourist types stopped to walk this path that supposedly led to great viewpoints along the Skagit River and its various dams for hydroelectric power generation.  But mostly all any of us saw from here were trees, trees, and more trees!  A glimpse of water here and there, but mostly just forest!  Oh well, the beginning of the trail was very pretty and promising!

 Hmm, wonder why they call this place the Cascades??

 Hairpin turn at Washington Pass.

 Fall colored shrubs popping up in disturbed/cleared areas.

 Views from the Washington Pass Overlook trail.

 Aspen copse in full fall glory.

 Great sign on the way to Winthrop (which I got to too late and really didn't get to see, since I needed to turn around and go back or I wouldn't be home before midnight!).

 But one of the perks of being out late was seeing the sunset colors splashing the mountain peaks, haloed by glowing clouds.

 Cool light ray effects!

 Looking back.

 It was very dark (darker than it looks in this photo), but isn't Diablo Lake - wreathed in clouds - gorgeous?! Hard to translate into a photo, and it was too cold to stand outside for long, but it was really a breathtaking scene.