The Eagle Has Landed

Posted on January 10, 2015 under News & Updates with 2 comments

The Waffle Wagon would fit in with hundreds of other food trucks in downtown Portland, Oregon

 

 

After travelling 9,523 kilometers, through three provinces and 17 states, we have arrived safe and sound in Vancouver, B.C.

The last leg of our trip took us through Northern California, Oregon and Washington State. After spending a full day in San Francisco, we travelled up the road to Redding, California. Checking my e-mail in the morning, I discovered that there was a family friend living in Redding. Receiving assurances from his mother in Nova Scotia that he would be awake, I dialed him up at 6:10 a.m. We had a nice chat and while his heart still longs for Nova Scotia, the prospects of -30 degree weather, will keep him firmly rooted in Redding for some time to come.

On the advice of several people, we headed due west towards Eureka and the Pacific Ocean. Within a half an hour , we were on one of the windiest mountain roads we had ever been on. It was a series of hairpin turns with very few straight stretches. Most of you have driven around Cape Smokey on the Cabot Trail. It was sort of like that only it lasted for 3 ½ hours. I was behind the wheel and it was the toughest few hours of driving I had on the trip.

We spent some time walking a beautiful stretch of beach on the Pacific Ocean. This was at the entrance to the Redwood Forest National park. We noticed several signs along this stretch of the highway with Tsunami warnings. ( not for that day but a general warning ! ). Even though it was a very calm day, the waves were very impressive.

The drive through the Redwood Forest was amazing. We stopped at one of several sites and did a short walk on an interpretive trail. It is hard to imagine that some of these trees have been there for thousands of years. A camera does not give you the scope of the size.

We continued up the coast and then crossed over into Oregon.

I realize that Facebook is a mixed blessing. I spend a fair bit of time using social media as a way getting my stories out to the public. On a long road trip, having Facebook is like having extra passengers in the car. With the possible exception of the Redwood Forest, we were able to easily connect to the internet just about any place, anytime. It was great to be able to share pictures and commentary and hear back from so many of you. I think that my picture at Haight Ashbury garnered the most “likes.” Must be a lot of old hippies out there.

So, we’re on yet another long stretch of Interstate highway and I’m checking Facebook when I notice that my nephew, Dave Brosha  is flying into Portland, Oregon for a week of photography workshops. A few messages later and we arrange a breakfast the next morning in downtown, Portland.

The hotel arrangements were made by phone. I spoke with a pleasant enough agent who was making the reservations from his home base in Honduras. I insisted that our hotel be located in downtown Portland. Well, when we took the ramp to the hotel and noticed a sign for the airport, I knew something wasn’t quite right. As it turned out, this was yet another stroke of good fortune because right beside our hotel was a rapid transit train.

Yesterday morning, we hopped on the train and rather than fighting the morning rush hour traffic, we drove in comfort and 15 minutes later rendezvoused with Dave for breakfast.

So, here is what I can tell you about Portland after spending less than 15 hours in the city: it is the craft beer capital of western civilization according to our waiter. It also has a stunning number of food wagons with every conceivable kind of food known to mankind. And it has a preponderance of topless bars. I didn’t sample any of Portland’s fineries except for some donuts from Voodoo Donut shop.

After a couple of very pleasant hours with Dave, we hit the road for the final push to Vancouver. We stopped at a Walmart in Washington State so that Peter could buy a hair cutting kit. When we got to the border , we had to do a bit of juggling to make the numbers work for amounts of money spent on merchandise. I ended up having the hair kit included in my amounts. The border agent actually asked us the nature of our purchases. I told the truth but luckily it was dark and I had a hat on otherwise, we may have been hauled out of the car for a thorough inspection!

We ended the day enjoying a terrific meal with my brother at a small Indian restaurant.

But, as Yogi Berra said, “ it ain’t over till it’s over.” Today we will hop on the ferry and make our final stop in Victoria at brother Tom’s.

I hope to do one giant story summarizing the whole trip in the days to come.

Have a good weekend.