SEPTEMBER 16, 2008

Washington coast.

On this day the scenery was beautiful & the drive was long. While I started out early this morning, there were enough delays to make the 330 miles traveled seem long. First there was the 1 hour wait for the ferry boat (I arrived early). It took 30 min on the ferry & there were countless traffic delays along Hwy 101. I finally arrived at my destination at 6:00pm. I stopped at Crescent lake to take in the scenery & capture some images. Later, it seemed crazy to make the effort to pass slower traffic, because it all caught up at the construction road stops. At least they were behind me. I was expecting to see the sunset over the Pacific Ocean at Long Beach, WA. Unfortunately it was too foggy to see anything. This cool damp weather hear is such a big contrast to the dry hot conditions of the Nevada desert.

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Morning at Rosario Beach.

Deception Pass

Waiting for the ferry boat to Port Townsend, WA.

A lonely sea bird.

The Keystone to Port Townsend ferry boat.

Highway 101 road stop.

The line forms here.

Highway 101 road stop.

One of many.

Olympic National Forest.

Olympic National Park.
Lake Crescent clear water.

Olympic national Park.
Lake Crescent

Olympic National Park.
The Lodge at Lake Crescent

Olympic national Park.
The cabins at Lake Crescent

Olympic National Park.

Lake crescent

Olympic national Park.

Lake Crescent.

Olympic national Park.

The forest canopy.

Olympic national Park.

The dark rain forest.

At last, a view of the Pacific Ocean.

For a short distance, the ocean can be seen from the road.

Near Long Beach, FOG!

The weather all day was sunny & warm.

Route map of the last three days.

September 13 to 15.

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

CANADA

Traveling now in a westward direction, I’ll soon be heading south towards California & home. There was more wonderful Canadian mountain scenery to see on today’s drive. The route I chose to drive today, retraces in reverse direction, the same route I took in a 1986 bicycle tour through this part of Canada. At least this time it was warm & sunny. The cities have grown, the roads have been improved, the small towns are somewhat different, but the mountains remain the same.

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Kelowna, BC.

Stuck in traffic.

Westward bound in Canada.

Lake Okanagan.

PROOF!

Yes indeed, my Volvo was driven in Canada!

Traffic waiting at a constuction zone.

A 30 minute wait.

I've seen many of these zones on this trip.

Road crews trying to get work done before winter time.

The town of Penticton on Okanagan Lake.

CANADA.

DINOSAURS!

More commanly known as house trailers/motor homes or just RV's.

They are usually seen lumbering slowly along the highways with a string of vehicles following behind. I rarely saw them move over to let the traffic go by.

Manning Provincial Park.

Manning Provincial Park.

Manning Provincial Park.

A hint of fall color could be seen in the forest.

Information about the "Hope slide".

To be able to read it, click on this image to enlarge it.

The scared mountian side as a result of the 1965 "Hope Slide".

This was an avalanche caused by an earth quake.

Rural scene near Vancouver, BC.

I'm back in the USA.

I had a 20 minute delay upon my return to the USA. I guess the US Customs agents had to meet a quota, & chose to inspect my vehicle & it's contents. Fortunatly it did not take too long.

WELCOME HOME!

This afternoon I had some time to take a bicycle ride east of Mt. Vernon, WA. I was looking for Big Lake, but never found it. Perhaps it's not so BIG. Anyway I did at least catch a view of Mt. Baker in the distance.

A panoramic image of a rural scene with a farm.

Notice the new houses to the right of the farm house.

Route map of the last three days.
September 12 to 14.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

CANADA

Add Canada to the list of Countries in which I’ve driven my Volvo. I drove north through Idaho & entered Canada near Creston, BC. Great scenery of forest & mountains throughout today’s drive. As I approached Kelowna, my destination, I again drove into the high desert region. Although I followed the directions of my GPS, I got slightly lost near Greenwood, BC. In the future, I’ll have make a more careful review of the roads I choose to take. I ended up on a narrow country road that eventually had no pavement. Not a good situation. Not a problem as I was only about 5 miles out of the way.
In general the drive was pleasant except for the final road into Kelowna. Here I encountered slower vehicles that were holding up traffic.

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Idaho, on the road to Canada.

Bonner Ferry, Idaho.

Entering Canada.

Canada. Panorama view near Creston, BC.

Canada, Burke, Volvo & friendly dog.

Canada. Rest stop bird house.

Canada. Bridal Lake at Kootenay Pass.

Canada, added to the list of countries I've driven my Volvo.

Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Norway & the USA.

British Columbia, Canada.

Canada. West of Kootenay Pass.

Canada. A view of Castlegar.