July 20, 2014

We made it to Stewart/Hyder

This has been a banner day.  We left Smithers this morning after spending the night in a great municipal park.  Note to anyone RVing in BC; never pass up a visitor's center or a municipal park.  The visitors' centers are always manned with friendly helpful folks, and sometimes there is a community bake sale or some other local interest.  And some have free wifi.

We headed up the Cassiar Highway and turned right to get to Stewart/Hyder with the intention of seeing bears.  After several hours at Fish Creek, we saw two eagles fly by.  There had been a glacier flood about three days ago which washed all the salmon downstream.  If there are no salmon, there are no bears!!!!!  We, along with about 30 other folks persevered, and lo and behold, down under the highway bridge trudged a big beautiful golden brown grizzly bear.  He sauntered downstream and suddenly made a dive into the bushes on the side and came out with a good-sized salmon in his mouth.  Probably the only salmon in that part of the creek.  He promptly waded over to the far bank, climbed out of the water, and feasted on his take.  All making our several -hour wait worthwhile.

Having been very pleased with our stay at the municipal park in Smithers last night, we made a beeline for the municipal park in Stewart………………stellar decision.  We are tucked in amongst some lovely big evergreens with nary a sound of anything.  The office was closed so the sign said to pick a site and to check in with them in the morning.  This for almost half the price of a commercial park in the area, and the one we saw was right on the highway with nothing but bare gravel.

The end of the Cassair

We arrived at the junction of the Cassair and Alaska highway on Tuesday afternoon and made a side trip of 15 miles east to go to Watson Lake to replenish some supplies…………oooooh expensive.  We purchased the bare necessities and decided to pass up the $30 watermelon!  Back on the Alaska highway westward took us to the outskirts of Watson Lake and another provincial $12/night park.  All the mosquitoes were free!  Actually, they could have been much worse!  A very large park with just three or four sites taken so of course hardly a sound except for the occasional seaplane out on the lake.

Today's drive took us westward on the Alaska Highway until we took a cutoff across Highway 8 to Carcross to pick up Highway 2 south to Sitka.  There are only two RV parks in Sitka and the best one was full so we are parked right next to the marina (and the piers for the four cruise ships that were in port for the day) for a mere $38/night with no hookups, no water, and therefore no showers or bathrooms.  The town determined that the park's water supply might be contaminated so shut it down.  Not to be overwhelmed, we drove around the corner to the marina and used their showers and restrooms.

We did a bit of grocery shopping, stopped at the Red Onion for a beer and then came back to the campground for the night.  Good night.

And so it begins...........

We managed to get out of the driveway by about two on Wednesday afternoon with Lynden being our destination for the night.  We wanted to be sure we had whatever we needed before crossing the border; which was as easy as declaring two bottles of scotch, estimating how long we would be in Canada and where we were from.  Now we will see if we are treated as well by the US border folks tomorrow when we get to Stewart/Hyder.

We are finding lots and lots of RV parks/campgrounds in BC, but most are pretty "rustic".  The bare minimum for maintenance, although the showers and restrooms have been clean, and the high end of the scale for price considering we don't require any hookups.  Smithers  Muncipal Park has proven to be quite nice, right on the river, and a reasonable price.  Obviously the season is short and they want to make the most of it.

The power supply for the HP computer decided to die as soon as we left home, but we found a replacement in Smithers and are back up and running.  We find Visitors Centers are a good bet for free Wifi. 

Every single little town has a visitors center staffed with very friendly folks.  Today, there was an Amish bake sale in one of the side rooms so we availed ourselves of some bread and rhubarb crisp.

Helmut, the Westie, has purred right along, helped, I am sure, by the great roads we have traveled here in BC.  We have encountered little if any construction interruptions and the going has been good.  He was so bright and shiny when we left but the rains have left him looking as if he needs a bath.  We drove through several rain storms today that were some of the hardest we have ever seen.  But it has pretty well cleared off by this evening.

Wildlife sightings so far have consisted of six deer and one black bear who was grazing alongside the highway this morning.  We are hoping to increase the count as we drive the Cassier Highway.

Until next time, I remain your rainy-day correspondent.  Ciao

Purple and Penguin Wedding

Friday, June 27 was our wedding of the year with the marriage of Sarah Elizabeth and Trevor Forest Stiltner. Of course the Kirkwood family knows how to party, so it was party time leading up to and following on after the wedding. Ken and I boarded our direct flight from McChord to Baltimore on my favorite private jet the C-17. Many times we are only two of perhaps a dozen passengers, but both coming and going on this trip we shared the mammoth space with about fifty other folks, almost all being young families on vacation. There were baby carriers, sleeping bags, and air mattresses galore.

Since we have to travel when the opportunity presents itself, we found ourselves arriving several days earlier than was necessary and undoubtedly earlier than Keith and Janet needed our presence. So after arriving at Dover Air Force Base at one in the morning, we cooled our heels for a while (there isn’t much going on in Dover) and called a cab to take us to IHOP (it stays open all night, right?) for some coffee and a very early breakfast and to wait until seven when the car rental office opened. It turned out that there was a huge music festival in Dover coming up that weekend, and to discourage loiterers, IHOP chose to close during the wee hours of the morning. Sigh. “So Mr. Taxi Driver, take us down the street to the Hilton Garden Inn. “ We explained to the manager that we had Hilton reservations in Columbia, Maryland but couldn’t get there until we could get a car at seven and make the one and one half hour drive. We were welcomed into the lobby, given a paper and coffee and then presented with complimentary vouchers for breakfast. Nice.

Knowing we were several days early, we agreed we would hide out at the Hilton in Columbia for at least two days before presenting ourselves to Keith and Janet. All went well until we went down the street for dinner to a restaurant that we were familiar with and knew that Keith and Janet frequented often for happy hour on Fridays so we thought. We walked by a window only to be “busted” by Keith, Janet, Rachel and her boyfriend, Mac, who were there for dinner on a Saturday night! So we joined them for dinner but did go back to our hotel for one more night before moving in with them.

Wedding preparations were well in hand with the exception of just a few last minute details so we pitched in and helped where we could. Of course one never arrives at the Keith Kirkwood household without being overwhelmed with food and drink. The bride and groom joined us at various moments as did Mac Rachel's boyfriend).

Janet’s parents and brother and family arrived a few days after us. Our entire family was in attendance with Brian, Sheila and the Harriotts coming from Seattle, Craig from Tacoma, Warren from Virginia, and Nolan from North Carolina. Curt and Cinda Johnson, Marty Sells (our grand niece) and Jeff and Bev Schuler rounded out our entourage. On Wednesday, the Radisson in Baltimore became party-central as we all settled in prior to the wedding on Friday.

 There were three restaurants within a few steps of the hotel as well as a hotel bar so we had plenty of places to gather. Over the past six months, I have ordered and returned at least eight dresses, none of which was the “perfect” dress. I had a dress shipped from a Palo Alto store to me, another I had shipped from Nordstrom to the Schulers because we were still on our winter road trip, and another I had shipped to Colleen because I wouldn’t be home. I even went out on a limb and ordered from Lord and Taylor which we don’t have in Washington but knew I could return it when I got to Columbia if necessary. None of them was perfect, but I did finally settle on one that would work. The courtyard outside our hotel was home to a number of shops so Bev, Colleen, and I decided to stroll around for a while in the afternoon of the wedding, and lo and behold I found THE DRESS! The PERFECT DRESS!! How is that for waiting until the eleventh hour?

 I was privy to seeing Sarah in her dress when she went for her final try-on, and I was invited to join Sarah and her eight attendants and Janet for a glass of champagne prior to the wedding. Colleen was the practical one and loaded the girls’ room fridge with meats and cheeses and fruits to help offset the champagne and to be sure no one fainted during the ceremony.

The venue for the wedding was a manor house on the grounds of the Baltimore Zoo and it was lovely. It was the shortest wedding ceremony I have ever attended, but Sarah made it clear that the order of the evening was to get to the drinking, dining and dancing. And we did all of that with gusto. Sarah has a love for penguins, and sure enough, Tails the handsome little penguin made a guest appearance right after the ceremony. We had not met Trevor’s family so were happy to do so and enjoyed them all. They were responsible for the corsages, boutonnieres, and centerpieces and they were spectacular. Lots of white and purple (Sarah’s favorite color).

The flower girl and ring bearer were Trevor’s niece and nephew. William is only three so his Grandma said if he would walk down the aisle he could then go to her and she would have candy for him. As you will see, the ring pillow (Janet’s mother made it from fabric from Janet’s wedding dress) is upside down, but he made it down the aisle. Colleen said she heard him singing “London Bridge is falling down” as he came down the aisle.

Of course a Kirkwood celebration calls for the akvavit toast and Colleen’s gift was to make the charms for the akvavit glasses.  At the beginning of the dinner, Keith welcomed the guests, explained the family ritual of toasting with akvavit and then asked me to “skoal” as the matriarch of the family. My feet were killing me by the time we sat down to dinner so I had kicked my shoes off assuming I would simply stand for the toast, but no, I had to go to the front in my bare feet because there was no way I was going to get the shoes back on.

 After dancing the night away, we sent the bride and groom off with a walkway lined with the guests holding sparklers!! Then it was back to the hotel bar where who should appear but all the family, some of the wedding party and the bride and groom! They are not going on their honeymoon to Aruba until August and wanted to be around this past week while family was in town. It was a late night!

 Sarah and Trevor continued to pop in and out at Keith and Janet’s and spent the second night of their married life in a tent in the back yard because every available sleeping space inside the house was taken. Saturday was another day for visitors and celebrating and EATING. Smoked pork sandwiches and coleslaw were on the menu. Keith must have smoked an entire pig, so as usual there was enough food to feed an army. Fortunately, Keith and Janet purchased an excess of wine and Prosecco for the reception so we felt an obligation to help them dispose of the leftovers!

 Monday night we were joined by Trevor’s parents, sister, and grandmother so we could watch them open their gifts. Another great opportunity to get to know his family.

If you go to http://www.lizandryan.com/maryland-zoo-baltimore-wedding-sarah-trevor/ you can see some of the wedding photos. Ryan worked with Keith at Northrop Grumman and he and Liz were going to give her five years to establish their photography business and then he would join her. He had to leave his job after eighteen months to move in to their very successful business. They did a great job.

 I love each and every one of our family gatherings, be they large or small, and spend many moments afterward reliving the moments and reminiscing. Ciao.

Central California Coast

We spent an uneventful month at Travis AFB with several comings and goings by us and the Schulers. They spent New Year's Eve with us - about the 30th that we have spent together. Now we are parked at Camp San Luis Obispo, about five miles north of the city itself. This is a small National Guard base, but it has a very adequate RV park with about one dozen spaces. We drove to the dining hall for dinner the first night we were here (we won't be "dining" there again), but it was so dark coming home, with no street lights, that we couldn't find our RV. Since there is pretty much nothing moving around here, especially on a Sunday night, it was just a matter of minutes before base security stopped to ask if they could help. Thank you!! We have visited San Luis Obispo which seems to be driven by the local campus of Cal Poly, and yesterday we drove south to check out Vandenberg AFB and Solvang. There was little happening in Solvang, and we walked a lot before we could find a place for lunch. We have made three treks north; driven primarily by the prospect of wine tasting, of which there is no shortage. So we now have some favorites from central California. We drove north on Highway One today to take a look at the sea lion colony that is located just north of Hearst Castle. It is a great viewing area with an elevated walkway right above the animals. One of the docents pointed out a calf that was just 45 minutes old. The adults, especially the males, are enormous and look extremely ungainly when moving around on the beach. Hearst Castle now belongs to the state, but the Hearst corporation has retained ownership and control of the surrounding ranchlands. Right along the highway are herds of cattle grazing............and zebras. Hearst accumulated quite a collection of exotic animals, but the zebras are the only ones that remain. Our plans are to leave here next Tuesday and drive to Edwards AFB, then on Thursday we will go on to the Quartzsite desert to meet up with Rod and Karen at the Desert Rat Rally. After the rally, Karen and I will drive to Ontario (CA) to meet up with Bev and a friend of Karen's for a quilt show while the guys go on their merry way. Ken and I will meet up in Casa Grande. As we have observed the comings and goings of our fellow RVers, we have taken to assigning these strangers nicknames that we use for reference. "Harvey" was parked next door, so named because he was as fussy and fastidious as someone we knew by that name. Trailer Man was parked here behind us for several days. We were told he is a veteran who spends his days at a local veterans' center, and sleeps in his "trailer". It is a well-made aluminum clad "trailer" about the size of a large chest freezer and just a bit taller. He had 3 ice chests stacked outside and the rest of his worldly possessions inside a small station wagon. I approached a couple parked nearby to ask if in fact they were from Airway Heights. They weren't, but they were from Deer Park and knew the one person I had known when I was a teenager - Mike Layton. In fact this man and Mike were classmates and are still friends. We did get acquainted with this couple and had them over for dessert one evening, but since their names didn't seem to stick with us, we referred to him or her as "Deer Park" and the other of us immediately knew who we were talking about. it is time for a walk in the sunshine. Ciao.

From Seven Feathers to Seven Feathers

The original plan for our annual trip south was to leave Monday afternoon, but the day got away from us, so we slept in the driveway and headed out on Tuesday morning. We stopped in Albany for a short visit and lunch with Ken's cousin, Harriet, and then made our way to Seven Feathers. They have opened a very nice rest area on the west side of I-5 so we settled in for the night. This morning, we arose and stopped here at the station for diesel when a trucker came up to say there was smoke coming from the engine compartment and it smelled bad! We ended up being towed back to Roseburg where it was determined that we had lost an alternator and the belt. But the shop recommended by CoachNet turned to, and we are now up and running and back at the Seven Feathers rest stop for a second night. Fortunately we have CoachNet so our towing bill was covered!!! The driver was the BEST. Experienced, personable, efficient, and knowledgeable. So if you ever find yourself in Grants Pass, Oregon or its surrounds, be sure to call Caveman Towing. We have had no rain today, but drove through a lot of it yesterday, and the rivers are looking pretty high. We actually saw a bit of sunshine for a brief period this morning, but the rest of the day was overcast. Tune in again, and I will make an effort to update my blog once in a while. Ciao.

Two weeks plus one day

The time is growing short before the wedding day. I think we are still on track and are pretty well prepared. The pie social (in lieu of a rehearsal dinner) has taken on a life of its own, and it is shaping up to be lots of fun. We will have a marathon pie baking day on Friday for the desserts to go along with the pulled pork sliders. The colors are red and white and most of the seating will be blankets on the grass.

My dress shopping has continued. Even though I have one hanging in my closet, it just seemed too easy so decided I should look around a bit more. I have ordered and returned about a half dozen dresses, but I now have another three that are waiting the wings.

Colleen is wearing the veil that I wore at our wedding, and I have added three rows of tatted lace that her Grandma Lilly made for her many many years ago. It does look quite lovely.

Brian is now officially retired. Sheila went back to North Carolina on Thursday to attend his change of command and retirement ceremonies. They stayed with Sheila's mother in Virginia last night, and today is a 700+ mile day to stop for a visit with air force friends in Indiana. We expect to see the four of them back here next Saturday.

Ciao

And the beat goes on..........

The wedding invitations have been mailed so we really do have to go through with it:) We have plenty of "to-do" lists, but everything has gone quite well and we have had fun in the process.

Brian and Sheila are about to become Seattle homeowners. It is a house that they saw on day two of house-hunting, and then they waited and waited on the sellers to finally take their offer over another. They don't take possession until June 30, so we will be very cozy around here for a few days after the wedding. LOVE IT!!!

Their new home is an early 1900s craftsman that has been completely restored and is beautiful. It is in the Laurelhurst neighborhood and it will be walking distance to Husky stadium; no wonder Brian liked this house.

Sheila treated me to the Seattle Opera to see Madam Butterfly; my first opera and I LOVED all of it including the music, the voices, and the set which was very minimalist. I have attended performances in Benaroya Hall, but this was a first at McCaw Hall which is just as wonderful. Seattle does have some great venues.

I think all the family students are finished for the year. Warren was inducted into National Honor Society, and Nolan has returned to his Chapel Hill campus to particpate in some ROTC activites. Rachel moved home this week, and I think Keith has finished his class but still has some papers to grade for the class he is co-teaching at Johns Hopkins. Sum sum summertime.

Ken has spent many hours outside and has the garden and flower beds looking good. We have had a great run of sunshine to encourage everything to grow, but this is a week of clouds and drizzle.

I am off to Seattle for some more wedding planning, and then this evening Colleen, Sheila and I are going to attend a presentation and reception at Seattle University for Cinda and Linea and their book, "Perfect Chaos". Their lives have been a whirlwind since the book release on May 8 to include several days and events in NYC.

It is certainly a book to be read by anyone who suffers from some type of mental illness or knows someone who does. It is proof positive that the battles can be won and it is a powerful message directed at removing the stigma of mental health issues. If you perform a google search on their names or the book title, you will find many reviews and articles from the likes of Prevention Magazine and major television networks. It is in lots of bookstores as well as on Amazon.

Ciao