CRUISING THE SAN JUANS AND GULF ISLANDS.

 When the opportunity arose recently to join our good friends Bruce and Maria Wallace on their 32-foot sailboat Escapade in the Pacific Northwest there was no hesitation. We dropped all projects at the home front July 8^th and drove by car to meet them at the marina in Bellingham, Washington. Having been off a sailboat four years due to spine surgeries and RVing, we were anxious to see how well I could/would adapt for an extended period of time aboard with limited range of back and leg motion.

The Pacific Northwest islands off the coast of British Columbia are indeed a boaters paradise in July and August. The weather is often unpredictable, but brings sunshine, precipitation, thunderstorms, fog, rainbows, and gorgeous sunsets. There are numerous lovely inlets, coves, and harbors for anchorages both around the U.S. San Juan Islands and Canadian Gulf Islands.

Pender Island anchorage in the Canadian Gulf Islands

Checked out Pender's Poet Cove Resort and Spa thanks to the inflatable dinghy 

Dinghy ride from Escapade at anchor in Roche Harbor on San Juan Island

All in all it was a wonderful two weeks exploring around the islands together. Bruce, being an experienced old salt sailor, had cruised as a skipper to French Polynesia, Hawaii, and southeast Alaska and navigated the Northwest islands with ease. He kindly let me have his bunk in the salon for comfort so I didn’t have to crawl up into the V berth. Maria managed the galley like a pro making delicious fine dining meals for us all. JR helped Bruce as crew up on deck. I focused on sightseeing and acclimating to being back on a boat. 

Takes about $400-$600 a pop to fill the fuel tanks on this baby

There were fresh crabs caught in the trap off the port side during a few anchorages. An assortment of sailboats, tall ships, big yachts and trawlers on the waters were eyed with envy. At Roche Harbor Shakespeare’s Midnight’s Summer Dream was performed outdoors with a modern 1960s twist one evening.. Runabouts in the dinghy to explore and to shore for happy hour appetizers several  evenings was fun, daily DVD flicks aboard each night before bedtime provided great entertainment, passing views of island evergreen landscapes and listening to a lot of dribble amongst ourselves added to the good time.

Montague Harbor at sunset under anchor for the night

                               

Love to own this classic old trawler

Overlooking Roche Harbor on San Juan Island

Add this to our bucket list !

On terra firma, we all took in part of the lovely city of Victoria on Vancouver Island for three days. Escapade was moored at the inner harbor causeway right across the street in front of the grand Empress Hotel. Oh my, how cool was that. 

Relaxing in Victoria at the dockside watching water taxis, seaplanes, yachts 

The Parliament lit up at nighttime which was a thrilling sight. Musicians could be heard along the docks and the sixty-two bells in the “Carillon” tower nearby rung out several times a day, Touring the B.C. Royal Museum was interesting. and the best part there was seeing an Imax film Canadian Rockies Express about the incredible railway feat in building the CPR across Canada. 



            

      

In Victoria Bruce and JR did the guy thing taking an exploratory dinghy run up the James River while Maria and I took in the waterfront walkway scene. We enjoyed an eclectic assortment of busker-style entertainment, like acrobats, jugglers, mimes and browsed the numerous kiosks that offered portrait painting, home-crafted jewelry, and native art.

Big Bucks for this yacht demands a full crew and cook aboard

Sea planes come and go everywhere

Early morning at Montague Harbor off Giliano Island

The ten hour passage from Victoria to Bellingham found Escapade fighting tidal currents, drizzle, and rain on the last day. Manning the vessel JR and Bruce donned foul weather jackets topside while Maria and I stayed below with the warmth of the oven heating a peach cobbler for evening dessert.  Two days of poor weather in 14 days cruising was nothing to complain about really with such good weather overall.

 

 We cleared U.S. Customs at Friday Harbor. The rest of the voyage provided a bit of diversion amongst the increment weather with dolphin and whale sightings and a chance to see several world class tall ships and yachts underway. 

The speed picked up to 7.2 knots as the currents changed in our favor. Luck was with us as we managed to tie off at the last available space on the Bellingham guest dock just before nightfall . The old salts had conquered a wet passage. Dinner never tasted so good and the last of the wine was heartily consumed.

Sighting a double rainbow in the sky

 Indebted to the Wallaces for their fine hospitality JR and I bid farewell and headed back home to the Bay Area. It was another great adventure for us with a different perspective of the Pacific Northwest. There is no question without a doubt we will return there again either by land or by sea. The region has always been one of our favorite places to visit. Life tends to bless us in our travels with kindness from  relatives and friends. Thank you so much Bruce and Maria for sharing your boat with us aboard. 

It is no secret that boaters find little bits of paradise in the Pacific Northwest

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CROSSING NEVADA AND WECOME BACK HOME TO CALIFORNIA

Kudos to those early pioneers crossing here long ago

 Nevada leaves one with a sense of monotonous boredom viewing the endless barren rugged landscape along Hwy 50.

 It became quite a feat for the motor home engine as JR maneuvered the rig up and down over seven steep grades of summit peaks at  7800 ft elevations.   

He certainly faced a hard challenging task driving against gusts of strong winds off and on during some 380 miles through the Nevada desert. It was the longest day’s drive of our entire journey by far. Of course naturally we had to consider it as just a small part of the territory's adventure.

 It is no wonder the road is called “the world’s loneliest highway

Passing through Reno we pull off in Boomtown’s casino parking lot with a case of eight hours worth of road rummies. After resting a few hours we caught a bite to eat, played black jack on a slot machine for a little while, and called it our last night out on the road. It was a windy canyon so the motor home rocked most of the night but we were too tired to really care.

At dawn I stepped outside in the brisk chilly air to catch the last sunrise of the trip. It didn’t take long to shiver my way back into the cozy comfort of the Chateau with Gaspe, Madeline, and Mohegan our three little bear travel companions until JR awoke. Yukon the little bear whom we lost along the way in Quebec, Canada came to mind in spirit.

 It would be just a few hours until we’d finally reach home in California with the rig intact after two years and approximately 35,000 miles of travel making a full circle loop of North America. 

We are forever grateful to all the relatives and friends who extended their hospitality to us around the country. What an incredible adventure the entire journey has been filled with enough memories and stories to last a long while. At least until the road beckons us elsewhere to other places beyond the next horizon.  Would we do it again???  You bet...

Best of all upon arriving home we found the GREATEST SURPRISE EVER waiting in the driveway. Our youngest son Justin and his family were there to welcome us back  along with a wonderful homemade dinner waiting 

Nothing in the world gets any better than ones family no matter how far or wide you ever travel.

DELIGHTS IN GREAT BASIN NATIONAL PARK

Catching the sunrise at Great Basin National Park, Nevada

Crossing Utah the land of great canyons

Pushing west along Hwy 50, from Moab, Utah we knocked off 320 miles on the road in six hours to reach Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada. It was to be our last big hurrah and proved to be a gem of a sanctuary, relatively undiscovered. In the shadow of 13,063-foot Wheeler Peak, where 5,000 year old bristlecone pine trees grow on rocky glacial moraines, we were fortunate to obtain the last of the limited sites in Upper Lehman Creek Campground.

People come to GBNP to experience the solitude of the desert, the smell of     sagebrush after a thunderstorm, the darkest of night skies, and the beauty of Lehman Caves. With the gradual melting of snow on Wheeler Peak, streams dance down the mountain, diversity explodes, and bouquets of Prickly-Pear Cacti, Indian Paintbrush , and Globe Mallow begin to dot the late springtime desert.

Here we were able to witness the rare annular solar eclipse happening for the first time in two decades. Half a dozen high power telescopes for viewing the solar eclipse in the sky were set up at the visitor center’s parking. 

A fellow fully dressed as Galileo was on the scene to humor and add dimension to the gathering. A chance to see the stages of the eclipse through the various big telescopes and place our cameras on several of their lense tubes to take photos was pretty cool.. Unfortunately, cloud cover dampened the opportunity for seeing the full ring of fire during the latter stage except for just a few seconds as the moon passed in front of the sun. 

All was not lost, however, as in Great Basin National Park on a clear, moonless night thousands of stars, five of our solar system's eight planets, star clusters, meteors, man-made satellites, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the Milky Way can be seen with the naked eye. The area boasts some of the darkest night skies left in the United States which we will attest to having seen.

Touring Lehman Caves within the park through passages and various chambers to a depth of 194 feet below ground on a ranger 90-minute tour became great fun. The dim lighting along narrow surface pathways illuminated the cave for safety. At one point the power went out leaving us all in total darkness for a period of time. The ranger with his flashlight returned back and found the auxiliary switch to reboot the lighting in the cave.

Those hollow rooms and sculptured walls started thousands of years ago as surface water turned slightly acidic from carbon dioxide gas, mixed with water deep below the surface, dissolving the soluble rock below were amazing. Drop by drop trickles of dissolved limestone formed stalactites , stalagmites, columns, draperies, flowstone, and soda straws within the cavern which continue to grow.

As if a solar eclipse and cave adventure weren’t enough there was still Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive yet to conquer in the park. With our Jeep we whined up the mountain range through a landscape of forest limber pines, pinon trees, aspens, and a few bristlecone pine trees  before the road ended at the summit’s 10,500 ft elevation parking lot. From there hiking trails lead higher up to Wheeler Peak at 13,500 ft in elevation. Absolutely worth giving it a bit of a go I suggested. Now most good hikers usually have some high altitude training conditioning. So you can imagine it wasn’t long before we turned and hoofed it back down the trail short on oxygen. 

The most we conquered after that was a few photos from below of the glaciers up on the peak . 

All in all a solar eclipse, cave spelunking, gazing at thousands of bright stars in a dark night sky, viewing the Great Basin region on a grand scale from Nevada’s highest peak along with another sunrise as we departed the park made for a grand time before continuing further westward on the long haul home.

CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK BRINGS GRAND VISTAS

Island in the Sky section atop the Colorado Plateau in Canyonlands 

What a world of grandeur happened to be spread before us standing high above the Colorado and Green Rivers on a mesa in what is today Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah. We've been to many national parks but this is certainly one of the most impressive. Stunning views like you've never seen before! 

Watched a hiker climb across the top of Mesa Arch in the Island to the Sky section

The walk to Mesa Arch is worth the reward always

The grand vista view through Mesa Arch becomes a thrill for anyone

The park encompasses deeply eroded canyons interspersed with sheer-sided mesas and a variety of spires, arches, and unusual rock formations. It is definitely a paradise for backpackers, hikers, and four-wheel vehicle thrill seekers who like to venture onto the high desert mountain trails or numerous unpaved dirt roads around the Canyonlands.

Adventure thrills await many 4-wheelers who drive along the canyon edges of the White Rim's unpaved roads

There aren't words to describe the breathtaking vistas in this park. It requires some driving but the results are worth it especially if you take advantage of some hiking. You will be treated to a geological wonderland of canyons, rivers, mesas and towering red rock formations - even an arch or two, all visible a short walk from the parking lots. With sweeping views of the Green and Colorado Rivers swathing their way through the ancient rock we couldn’t help but be impressed by the magnitude of it all. 

A glimpse of Green River carving its way to the confluence of the Colorado River

It was fun tracking down some ancient Indian petroglyph writings on a wall along the Colorado River.