Crossing over the Canadian border was relatively painless, the only difficulty being the two inch clearance for the mirrors on each side of the motorhome at the inspection booth.
We had reservations at a campground in Surrey, British Columbia, which was supposed to be just outside Vancouver. Turned out that it was only a few hundred feet from the border. But nice hosts. One of them, an older gentleman, was meticulous as he directed me into position on our campsite, but so incredibly slow that I was ready to ask Nancy for assistance, which is something I never expected to consider.
Most of the other campers were Canadian. Turned out that Surrey is the garden spot of Canada, with less bad weather than any other region, so a lot of snowbirds park there to escape the harsh Canadian winters elsewhere. They would go further south - to California or Arizona - but can't afford the insurance for medical care in the US. They stay within the system.
The four of us piled into the Mazda pickup and we drove to Whistler, which is rated as one of the best ski areas in the Americas. Quite a long drive which took up most of the day, but absolutely gorgeous scenery along the way. And Whistler is a beauty, with great architecture and a lively feel. Even though skiing hadn't started yet, lots of people there. Probably a fantastic place to ski, although it apparently gets really cold during ski season, and was already quite chilly as we walked around, in late October.
Driving back, we hit rush hour Vancouver traffic - maybe the slowest crawl for the longest time that I've ever seen.
The weather hadn't been great for some time, and the rain picked up. We decided to head back into the States. The campground hosts suggested a different border crossing with wider lanes and less traffic. But we were backed up for miles. When we finally reached the crossing guard, he asked if we had any fruits or vegetables, and when we answered honestly, he directed us desperados to pull over for an inspection. We had to place Tammy Faye and Sophia in a kennel enclosure beside the customs building while Nancy and I went inside. We met with an agricultural officer and Nancy spilled her guts about what we had in our motorhome, including several fruits and vegetables and some nice lamb chops. Some of the fruits and vegetables and all the lamb were confiscated by the woman, unsupervised in our motorhome, before we were allowed to proceed. Took forever.
We felt really happy to be back in the good old USA. Nancy was irate at having someone check out our motorhome without either of us being present. And I miss those lamb chops, already.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Washington Wine Country
After driving along the Columbia River, with its scenic beauties, we crossed the bridge into eastern Washington, and the countryside lost its luster - a reminder that up and down the West Coast, the prettiest areas are along the coast and the coastal mountain ranges, and the inland landscapes are drier and less interesting.
Yakima, though, was more attractive than I expected. There are hills surrounding it, and even though they are covered by brush rather than trees, it's a more interesting look than the rest of south-central Washington.
The Yakima Valley is one of the major Washington state wine regions. On a drizzly day we walked into the Kana Winery tasting room in downtown Yakima and were impressed. They concentrate on Rhone-style wines, and we especially loved their wonderful, reasonably-priced reds. We bought their Dark Star (a mix of Rhone varietals) and a dry Reisling.
We drove a half hour to the Rattlesnake Hills wine region and toured a couple of family-run wineries there in the countryside. Friendly people, nice tasting rooms, but the wines were disappointing. So a lot of Washington state wines are great and some should be avoided.
Heading for the Canadian border, we drove northwest, and as we approached the Cascade Range, the rain turned to snow. Magnificent views of snowy mountains and hills covered with trees - lush green with splashes of yellow color. The snowfall was fairly heavy, and driving seemed a little dicey, but to be honest, on our crossing through the mountain passes we never climbed above 3000 feet, and the temperature never dropped below freezing.
Yakima, though, was more attractive than I expected. There are hills surrounding it, and even though they are covered by brush rather than trees, it's a more interesting look than the rest of south-central Washington.
The Yakima Valley is one of the major Washington state wine regions. On a drizzly day we walked into the Kana Winery tasting room in downtown Yakima and were impressed. They concentrate on Rhone-style wines, and we especially loved their wonderful, reasonably-priced reds. We bought their Dark Star (a mix of Rhone varietals) and a dry Reisling.
We drove a half hour to the Rattlesnake Hills wine region and toured a couple of family-run wineries there in the countryside. Friendly people, nice tasting rooms, but the wines were disappointing. So a lot of Washington state wines are great and some should be avoided.
Heading for the Canadian border, we drove northwest, and as we approached the Cascade Range, the rain turned to snow. Magnificent views of snowy mountains and hills covered with trees - lush green with splashes of yellow color. The snowfall was fairly heavy, and driving seemed a little dicey, but to be honest, on our crossing through the mountain passes we never climbed above 3000 feet, and the temperature never dropped below freezing.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Portland and the Columbia River Valley
At our campground outside Portland heavy rain tattooed our motorhome most of the day, but we wanted to explore the city, and Nancy found several activities for us.
Powell's City of Books is one of the biggest bookstores anywhere in the world - acres inside, with new and used books mixed together - and a huge counter where people go to sell their books to the house. I found a cheap copy of a coffee-table cookbook from La Mere Blanc which was too expensive for my blood when I dined at that Michelin three-star restaurant in France many years ago.
We walked through the Portland Museum of Art, which had a number of lesser works by famous artists - Degas, Monet, Renoir, Picasso, and others. What I will remember most about it was the confusing layout and the difficulty we had in finding an exit.
Dinner at Gracie's Restaurant in the Hotel deLuxe was our first night out on the town since we left California. Delicious small plates in an elegant room. Our favorite course was Pork Belly Crostini. Jealous?
The next morning we headed for Washington wine country, driving along the Columbia River, which is incredibly beautiful, especially with the leaf color changes at this time of year and a sprinkling of snow on the peaks.
The weather cleared, and we pulled into a lovely campground in Boardman, Oregon which was almost completely empty. We chose a campsite overlooking the Columbia River. There was a hiking and biking trail that followed the river, and Nancy and I mounted up and got some much needed exercise.
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Powell's City of Books is one of the biggest bookstores anywhere in the world - acres inside, with new and used books mixed together - and a huge counter where people go to sell their books to the house. I found a cheap copy of a coffee-table cookbook from La Mere Blanc which was too expensive for my blood when I dined at that Michelin three-star restaurant in France many years ago.
We walked through the Portland Museum of Art, which had a number of lesser works by famous artists - Degas, Monet, Renoir, Picasso, and others. What I will remember most about it was the confusing layout and the difficulty we had in finding an exit.
Dinner at Gracie's Restaurant in the Hotel deLuxe was our first night out on the town since we left California. Delicious small plates in an elegant room. Our favorite course was Pork Belly Crostini. Jealous?
The next morning we headed for Washington wine country, driving along the Columbia River, which is incredibly beautiful, especially with the leaf color changes at this time of year and a sprinkling of snow on the peaks.
The weather cleared, and we pulled into a lovely campground in Boardman, Oregon which was almost completely empty. We chose a campsite overlooking the Columbia River. There was a hiking and biking trail that followed the river, and Nancy and I mounted up and got some much needed exercise.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Oregon's Willamette Valley Wine Country
Oregon is famous for its Willamette Valley Pinot Noir wines. Our remembrances from previous trips are that the wines are aggressively priced for what they offer. On this visit we confirmed those impressions.
Unlike the two wineries in southern Oregon we sampled earlier, those in Willamette Valley have high tasting fees - around $15 in many cases - and the wine offerings are heavily weighted toward Pinot Noir. After learning that we live in the Santa Cruz area, the pouring technician at Bethel Heights Vineyard told us that the founder of Bonny Doon Vineyard, Randall Graham, had been a mentor of theirs and was important in the early years of getting their enterprise on its feet. They had very fond memories of him. Small world. The cost of the Pinot Noir we purchased there? Fifty bucks. Ouch! And to be honest, it was good, but not memorable.
At our campground we asked if there were any wineries in the area with more drinker-friendly prices. They recommended the nearby Stoller Family Estate. It's a majestic place, its rolling hills covered with lush vines, its tasting room beautifully designed and expensively executed. The wines? Very nice. We bought a dry Reisling and their flagship Pinot Noir.
Back at the campround, we sauteed a couple of Walmart filet mignons, served with a shallot pan sauce, and opened a bottle of Pinot Noir from the Santa Cruz Mountains to see how it compared with the local product. We liked it better than any of the Oregon Pinots we'd tasted. I think we in California prefer more powerful, fruit-forward red wines; that's what we're used to. Matter of personal taste. Maybe a more sophisticated palate than ours would lean more toward the Oregon style.
Unlike the two wineries in southern Oregon we sampled earlier, those in Willamette Valley have high tasting fees - around $15 in many cases - and the wine offerings are heavily weighted toward Pinot Noir. After learning that we live in the Santa Cruz area, the pouring technician at Bethel Heights Vineyard told us that the founder of Bonny Doon Vineyard, Randall Graham, had been a mentor of theirs and was important in the early years of getting their enterprise on its feet. They had very fond memories of him. Small world. The cost of the Pinot Noir we purchased there? Fifty bucks. Ouch! And to be honest, it was good, but not memorable.
At our campground we asked if there were any wineries in the area with more drinker-friendly prices. They recommended the nearby Stoller Family Estate. It's a majestic place, its rolling hills covered with lush vines, its tasting room beautifully designed and expensively executed. The wines? Very nice. We bought a dry Reisling and their flagship Pinot Noir.
Back at the campround, we sauteed a couple of Walmart filet mignons, served with a shallot pan sauce, and opened a bottle of Pinot Noir from the Santa Cruz Mountains to see how it compared with the local product. We liked it better than any of the Oregon Pinots we'd tasted. I think we in California prefer more powerful, fruit-forward red wines; that's what we're used to. Matter of personal taste. Maybe a more sophisticated palate than ours would lean more toward the Oregon style.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Fall 2012 Trip to the Pacific Northwest
After a one month coachwork repair delay resulting from a regrettable operator error, Nancy and I and our kids Tammy Faye and Sophia headed north in mid October to have a look at Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia.
We had a full gas tank as we left Ben Lomond, and at around seven and a half miles per gallon, we hoped to reach the promised land of cheaper gas before having to refill. On the second day, running on fumes, ignoring the "low fuel level" messages on the dash, we passed the Oregon border and found a gas station at $4.08 a gallon for regular, much better than the $4.70 at home. If we had run out of gas, it would have been entertaining for a reader of this blog, but unpleasant for the heroes of the story.
The fillup cost $270. With our nearly dry tank, I was looking for a milestone of $300 but will have to wait until the oil producers jack up their prices even higher.
One of the favorite campgrounds of our big trip all around the country last year was the Seven Feathers RV Resort. It's near a casino in southern Oregon, but its charm is in the quality of its landscaping and the beauty of the area. We were there for three days and used the time to reacquaint ourselves with trailer park life, to watch some important bay area sports programming on TV, and to check out some attractions in the area.
We drove our pickup truck, which we tow behind our motorhome, through the Wildlife Safari Park in nearby Winston, Oregon. We saw elephants, zebras, lions, tigers, cheetahs, giraffes, ostriches, bison, and bears in something similar to their natural habitats. The park has an impressive cheetah breeding program.
We also visited two wineries in the Umpqua wine region - Tesoaria and Hillcrest. Charming someliers, decent wines, and we bought a bottle at each tasting room. A young man sampling the wines next to us at Hillcrest Winery mentioned that he was from the area, worked on an oil rig in the Gulf, and liked to hunt. His most unusual kill was a cougar, for which Oregon issues licenses, because they are not endangered. He said it tastes like pork. Along the way he also mentioned that after a lifetime of not eating pork, he finally tasted bacon, and loved it. I asked why he hadn't eaten pork before that, and he said that it was a religious thing. Let's see - an oil rig worker who hunts - Jews and Muslims are probably not well represented in that demographic. But we'll never know, because Nancy and I were too polite to pry. Damn.
We had a full gas tank as we left Ben Lomond, and at around seven and a half miles per gallon, we hoped to reach the promised land of cheaper gas before having to refill. On the second day, running on fumes, ignoring the "low fuel level" messages on the dash, we passed the Oregon border and found a gas station at $4.08 a gallon for regular, much better than the $4.70 at home. If we had run out of gas, it would have been entertaining for a reader of this blog, but unpleasant for the heroes of the story.
The fillup cost $270. With our nearly dry tank, I was looking for a milestone of $300 but will have to wait until the oil producers jack up their prices even higher.
One of the favorite campgrounds of our big trip all around the country last year was the Seven Feathers RV Resort. It's near a casino in southern Oregon, but its charm is in the quality of its landscaping and the beauty of the area. We were there for three days and used the time to reacquaint ourselves with trailer park life, to watch some important bay area sports programming on TV, and to check out some attractions in the area.
We drove our pickup truck, which we tow behind our motorhome, through the Wildlife Safari Park in nearby Winston, Oregon. We saw elephants, zebras, lions, tigers, cheetahs, giraffes, ostriches, bison, and bears in something similar to their natural habitats. The park has an impressive cheetah breeding program.
We also visited two wineries in the Umpqua wine region - Tesoaria and Hillcrest. Charming someliers, decent wines, and we bought a bottle at each tasting room. A young man sampling the wines next to us at Hillcrest Winery mentioned that he was from the area, worked on an oil rig in the Gulf, and liked to hunt. His most unusual kill was a cougar, for which Oregon issues licenses, because they are not endangered. He said it tastes like pork. Along the way he also mentioned that after a lifetime of not eating pork, he finally tasted bacon, and loved it. I asked why he hadn't eaten pork before that, and he said that it was a religious thing. Let's see - an oil rig worker who hunts - Jews and Muslims are probably not well represented in that demographic. But we'll never know, because Nancy and I were too polite to pry. Damn.
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