DAY 47- 50 ~ GIG HARBOR, WASHINGTON (July 3 – July 6)

Our first stop in Washington is Gig Harbor.  Gig Harbor is where our friends of 40 years, the Melchiors, live.  We are staying here for 3 days and 4 nights.  Bonnie & Mike are moving to a new home next week (in the same town).  We will be helping them with some of their packing and we will take a trip to Seattle on one of the days.

DAY 49 ~ SEATTLE (July 5)

It is a beautiful, sunny, warm day in Seattle on Saturday; the day after a long night of celebration and explosions (4^th of July). 

The area around the Space Needle is very crowded.  Some kind of festival was going on nearby.  Color Festival??  As we got closer we discovered what the color festival was all about.  A crowd of people throwing powdered chalk of many colors up in the air and at each other.   Of course you must wear white.  We saw many colorful people that day.

Also in the area of the Space Needle is the CHIHULY GARDEN AND GLASS.  This is a must see!  This is an exhibition that displays the work of the great glass artist Dale Chihuly.  There is in indoor area of several rooms showing his colorful and wonderful designs.  Outdoors is a garden where his designs match the surrounding landscape and flowers.  “I want people to be overwhelmed with light and color in a way they have never experienced”---Dale Chihuly

Persian Ceiling

 Mille Fiori

Float Boat

 Inside the Glasshouse

The COLLECTIONS CAFÉ is a great place to eat.  The café displays many of Dale Chihuly’s personal collections.  All the tables are embedded with a glass window box with a different collection in each one.  It has a fun atmosphere and the food is delicious.

 Juicers

 Antique Christmas Ornaments. This was at our table.

Mike and Bonnie Melchior, myself and Dave

Yummy 

Our last stop before leaving Seattle was Pier 91 where the Princess Cruise ships dock.  Bonnie & Mike’s daughter, Melissa, is a Port Agent supervisor for Princess Cruises.  The Golden Princess was there getting ready to leave for Alaska.  We had a nice visit with Melissa and was given a tour of ‘how it all works’.  It was all so very interesting.   Melissa is the one who will turn you away if you do not have your passport or all the proper documents.  That day 9 people were not allowed to board the Golden Princess.    

We watched the Golden leave the docks and wished so much we were on it.  In Seattle, as the ship departs, you will not hear “The Love Boat” theme song or the horn blow.  The residents on the hill overlooking the docks have made many complaints and Princess listened to them. 

Next Stop Vancouver, Washington.

PART III ~ USA

It took us two hours to get across the border into the US.  We waited in line for an hour and then we had to go through an agriculture check which took another hour.  We were pulling a trailer and of course we probably had meats, fruits and veggies in the ‘fridge.  We thought we ate or got rid of the ones we bought in Canada, but we forget the small package of tomatoes, so they confiscated that. 

Now we are back in our own country and on our way home.  We will be traveling through Washington and Oregon and California for the next two weeks making a few stops in all three states before we land back in Cotati.

The weather has cleared up, warmed up and it feels like summer!

DAY 41 - 46 ~ ALMOST BACK TO THE USA (June 41 – July 2)

We now head inland to the center of British Columbia and into civilization.  We no longer have almost 24 hours of daylight.  It gets dark around 9:45pm (real dark) and stays dark until around 6:00am.  Maybe I’ll finally see some stars. 

We will be traveling on the Yellowhead Highway and then onto the Caraboo Highway.  Both these highways are still 2 lane roads, but it is a level and smoother ride.  The mountains are still in view, but we are no longer driving through forests and brush. We now see small towns and open fields with grazing cows.  I don’t think we will see any more Black Bear walking across of the highway or any other wildlife. 

DAY 41 – 43 ~ SMITHERS, PRINCE GEORGE, & CLINTON  (June 27 - 29)

The next three days were overnight stops.  These three cities were bigger cities, but had nothing exciting to visit or explore.  We did unhook in Prince George because there is a Costco here and we needed gas and supplies. The other two cities we did not leave the RV park.  We relaxed, read, did laundry, updated the blog and watched TV.

DAY 44– 46 ~ HOPE  (June 30 – July 2)

This is our last stop in British Columbia and Canada.  We will be here for two days and 3 nights.  Hope is located at the joint of the Fraser and Coquihalla rivers.  Its history begins in 1808 when explorer Simon Fraser arrived in the area that is now called Hope.  The Hudson Bay Company created the Fort Hope trading post in 1848.  In 1858, the area was transformed by the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush.   

    

In 1991 Hope embarked on a mission to become the chainsaw carving capital.  Today there are over 50 carvings on display throughout the community.

    

Fraser River

Nearby, in the town of Chilliwack was one of our favorite botanical gardens; MINTER GARDENS This will be our third visit to these gardens.  I think it is as spectacular as the Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island; but on a smaller scale.  

    

The garden is a family run operation and “The dream was supposed to last forever”.  Sadly upon our arrival in Hope we found out that Minter Gardens, after 33 years, closed their doors in October 2013.  Due to bad weather and lack of interest from the young people, attendance dropped dramatically over the past few years.  The family could not keep the garden running.  The above pictures were taken on our last trip in 2009.   These gardens is our only reason for staying in the area.  So this may be our last visit to Hope.

    

Another favorite site is the Othello Tunnels at Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park.  These abandoned railway tunnels are now a hiking trail along the Coquihalla River where you can view the river raging between the steep canyon walls. The five tunnels were built through solid granite cliffs between 1911 and 1916 to complete the Kettle Valley Railway.  This railway was closed in 1959 due to constant washouts, snow, and rockslides.

THE HOPE SLIDE is the largest landslide in Western Canada.  49 years ago on January 9, 1965, the collapse of Johnson Peak sent tons of rock, mud and trees hurling down onto the floor of Nicolum Creek valley burying part of the highway plus a lake at the bottom of the mountain.  It also buried 3 cars killing the four motorists in those cars.  Two of the motorists were never found.  The force of the slide caused the debris to wash up the opposite mountainside before crashing back down into the valley.  Can you imagine the noise that landslide must have made.  There is a belief that the Hope Slide was triggered by an earthquake.

Next stop; Hello USA, good-bye Canada!