Salem Oregon to Vancouver BC

A trip that should have taken 6 1/2 hours... turns into a 16 hour crawl!! Yes you heard it right! We were moving along swimmingly until we hit Tacoma. From Tacoma to Everett it took us 7 hours! If we weren't just sitting for hours on end, we were at a snails pace rolling along in neutral. It was painful!! We couldn't have even tried to get off at any of the exits, as those were a catastrophe as well... and we were always at least 4 lanes over from trying to make any attempt at crossing. Moving from one lane to the next would have taken at least 30 minutes to inch over!! So we kept on moving, finally making it home at about 3:30am in the morning!

Anyhoo! Our final days on the road yesterday, and the day before were quite enjoyable! Like I mentioned in a previous blog, we met the nicest couple. Gary and Chris Fetter! They invited us into their home in Salem Oregon. Feeding us a great Spaghetti dinner, and huge trucker breakfast before we took off the following day! I wouldn't even know where to begin explaining how nice these people were! We also met their son, daughter, and 2 of their grandchildren, who they insisted we meet before we hit the road. One brief story is Gary is a Vietnam Vet, he flew helicopters in the war, and was shot down numerous times! He has a ton of stories. Such a nice man, and his wife is a sweet heart! The two of them are also involved in Drag Racing as you will see from some of the photos below! Anyways, I could go on and on.... but I'll keep it short! Just such a nice couple, and hope to see them again!

So... here we are, back in Vancouver, Home Sweet Home. I don't know if we will start to realize the journey we have been on, until we start to tell our stories. We have had soooo much fun. We saw things we never dreamed of.. or have always dreamed of ! We met some amazing people, and some crazy ones too!! LOL! We've had a couple near misses on the Hwy and crossed the Pony Express path, how cool is that! We've peeked over the edge of vast canyons, stood on top of mountains, put our feet in the California sand, stood beside giant Redwoods and prickly cacti. Pretended we were famous, retracing the steps of old movie stars of times gone by in Palm Springs. Roasted marshmallows in beautiful State Parks,  and drove into some of the campsites you only dream of seeing on movies....  I'm talking movies like "National Lampoons Vacation"!!!

Well to wrap it up.... Graham, Mango and I would like to thank you for listening to our stories. Every day we sat down to write, we would relive the days events.... good and bad! We had so many laughs! We can't believe it is over, how quickly time fly's!! We would highly recommend to anyone to hit the road for some adventure! You won't regret it!

Over and Out!!
Jen, Graham and Mango!!

Mango and Butterscotch (Gary & Chris' dog). This is what they did for 24 hours straight!

Graham ready to go Drag Racing!

Chris, Graham and Gary in front of their Chevy. The word "Determination" on the side, is what Gary had painted on the side of his Helicopter in Vietnam.

Chris and Gary!

One snap shot of our hellish ride through Seattle

We're flying now! 2 1/2 hours later, & we've travelled about another 3 miles! At this rate we'll be home around this time tomorrow! Fun times!

Have been stuck on the I5 just south of Seattle for the last 3 hours, & only travelled about 3 miles!

Slowly coming back to reality!

Hi there!

Well, here we are, freezing our butts off in Oregon! We arrived here in Canyonville, Oregon on Thursday. Staying at another amazing RV Park! Indoor pool, hot tub, gym, and shuttle service to the nearby Casino! Not so lucky this time around on the slots! But thank goodness there is always the Buffet! Our stay in Carmel was very short, stayed at a Campground that claimed to have amazing views! Not so much! We basically had a spot in a small parking lot on a hill, may have had good views if it wasn't for the trees. Oh well, we have definitely had our share of not so desirable campgrounds, but thankfully we've been spoiled at many as well!

We've met a super nice couple here at the park. They are from nearby Salem Oregon. He is a Vietnam Vet, and she is a retired special education teacher. This morning we had a knock on our camper door. It was Gary, our new neighbour. They have asked us to follow them up to Salem, and invited us to stay at their home before driving the last leg of our trip! How nice is that! We've happily accepted their kind offer, and we are looking forward to a real bed tomorrow night!

Our amazing view at Carmel-by-the-sea! Cool trees though!

Leaving our mark!

Grants Pass, the snow started falling! I miss you Palm Springs!

We woke up to a dusting of snow this morning!

Seven Feather's RV Park, Canyonville, Oregon

Ok, trying to shake it off, moving forward.

So, prior to the crazy accident we witnessed today, we had a great day up at Hearst Castle! We took Tour 1, which basically takes your through one of the guest homes, the lower level of the main house, and the two amazing swimming pools! I could go on and on about the details, but after our drive today, I'll make it short. The castle was built between 1919 and 1947. The total square footage of the estate is 90,000. Invitations to Hearst Castle were highly coveted during its heyday in the 1920s and '30's. There were 2 pools, 2 air strips, the worlds largest private zoo, movie theatre, & tennis courts, etc,etc. Hearst was a pretty amazing guy.

After Hearst Castle we drove up to Big Sur. A small town if you can call it that, with a very Tofino like vibe. We stayed at Big Sur Pfeiffer Beach State Park. A huge park with over 200 sites, a river running through it, and big redwood trees. We would definitely go back to Big Sur, but next time in a car, and stay in one of the many cute lodges. We stayed one night and headed north to Carmel. We are situated on a hill top in a tiny campground. Basically hiding out for the night after our terrifying day on the road. Tomorrow we are going to do a long haul drive to Redding, should take about 5 1/2 hours. We've heard that the Mount Shasta area is due for some snow by the weekend, so we want to get through before it hits! Can you believe we are headed home! How time fly's! One more week.....

Casa Del Sol, 18 room guest house! 

The Neptune Pool! The present staff at Hearst Castle get a chance once a year to swim in it!! Can you imagine!

I read a blurb, that the Hearst family donated the estate on the condition that they could visit and stay whenever they want. Patty Hearst says she remembers as a child hiding behind these statues at the pool as tours walked through!

1 of 4 bedrooms at the Casa Del Sol Guest house. Bob Hope is one of many that stayed!

1 of 4 bathrooms at Casa Del Sol

Casa Del Sol.... another bedroom!

Another!

Love this statue!

Casa Grande, the main house.

The Dining Room. Can you imagine having dinner with Carey Grant, Winston Churchill,  Walt Disney,  Greta Garbo, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Charlie Chaplin and Joan Crawford... just to name a few!

Statue in the Movie Theatre

The Theatre. Here he would have private viewings of movies. 

The Roman Pool. The mosaic tiles are decorated with gold leaf.

Hwy 1 View Point

Hwy 1

Sea Lions sunning themselves!

Big Sur Pfeiffer Beach State Park, our campsite.

Our campsite at Big Sur

River running behind our site.

Never a dull moment

Graham and I had one traumatizing day today. We witnessed a horrible crash, actually I should say we were involved in the terrifying moments before and during the crash. Thankfully the 3 of us are ok. Surprisingly the fellow driving the other car walked away from the crash. It went down like this.... We have been driving the California coast for the last couple of days. As some of you might know it is a very narrow, twisting road. On one side are high mountains, on the other side... sheer, breath taking cliffs to the ocean below. Absolutely beautiful. Not sure if our photos below can actually capture the beauty! Anyways, today we set off from Big Sur. Planning on a short drive up the coast to Carmel-by-the-sea. Only a 50 minute drive away. We can't tell you how many idiots speed on this hwy. Most of the time we are being tailgated, and then they decide to pass, and honestly there is never a safe area to pass. A lot of the time we would slow down and pull over on a small pull out to let the idiots by. So, back to the story, we were moving along when out of nowhere a fellow in a red truck decided to ride our butt, then before either of us knew it, he was beside us, driving on the dirt shoulder, trying to pass us that way! As he cut up in front of us, back onto the road he lost control, went side ways, and drove directly over the cliff. As I write this I'm shaking, and near tears... I've never seen anything like it. It was terrifying to watch. We both thought he was a goner. We pulled over and ran to the side of the cliff. His car miraculously went all the way down (according to the police about 350-400 ft), but was stopped just before going over another cliff to the rocky beach below. It was also witnessed by a few car loads of people up ahead at a view point taking photos. They said he flipped a couple of times. Luckily the idiot driver never hit them or any other cars coming the other direction.... and he never hit us. A man and a woman on a motorcycle came along just after it happened, and the fellow went down to "check" on him. I personally think he was crazy to do so... as the guy was getting out of his car and was alive... I told the man not to risk it and he yelled at me, and said something I don't even remember..... Anyways, the police and ambulance came, the only one that seemed injured was the older motorcycle guy that went down for him. He was scratched to bits, and ready to have a coronary by the time he climbed back up. The dude driving the truck had not a scratch on him. We are still amazed he lived. Both us were afraid to even look over the cliff, for fear of seeing him dead. It is truly amazing he survived, and truly stupid what he tried to do. He totally put everyone at risk around him.... thankfully he didn't lose control just as he passed us, otherwise he would have taken us over the cliff too. What an idiot. Anyways, after we realized he was ok, and he made it back up, I took out my camera and took a couple of pictures. I've also added a few from our drive yesterday, just to show you how dangerous this road is. Anyhoo, we did have a great last two days. But I will fill you in on that tonight or tomorrow. Still can't believe what we just witnessed.

You can see the red truck at the very bottom...

A closer look.

You can see his skid marks on the road where he lost control in front of us. Graham had to slam on the breaks as to not run in to him.

You can see the dirt disrupted by the small rocks, and the dirt and rocks on the road. That is where he went over. It was almost like he hit the gas as he went. Maybe he was in shock and hit the gas rather than the breaks, but he was flying. So surreal.

The dude with the dread locks is the idiot driver. The guy with silver hair on the left is the crazy motorcycle guy that went down to fetch him.

Morro Bay, California

Good morning! Arrived in a Morro Bay early yesterday. A small town about 50 minutes south of San Simeon.

Pro: The campground we are at, is so far, the closest we've come to being at the oceans shore! Very Tofino like beaches, and cool Sand Dunes!
Con: We are right next to a sewer treatment plant. Enough said.
Pro: Fell asleep to the sound of the waves last night.
Con: Our other neighbour is a Power plant..... you can see for yourself below.

All said, we are packing up this morning, and headed to Hearst Castle!! We've booked ourselves on a tour! Very excited to finally see this place! After the tour we will be heading to Big Sur. Hopefully to hunker down for 2 or 3 nights and enjoy!

Bye for now!

Morro Rock, is a volcanic peak, one of nine sisters, a 21 million year old chain of rocks, stretching from San Luis Obispo.

More fun and games! 

Such a beautiful backdrop! LOL!

Our neighbour in the background, THE POWER PLANT! So ominous!

Check out our cuter neighbour! See her in the tree beside the flower!