Mostly a Tourist: Vancouver

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Day 1 - Vancouver to Salem

Part of the Series: Vancouver to the Grand Canyon and Back Again!

View from Juanita's balcony

Saturday morning was a lovely, relaxing affair involving a lazy coffee on Juanita's balcony, getting dressed, loading up the vehicle, stopping for some food and more coffee, and then heading for the border where we had a fairly short wait before crossing into the United States.

Approaching the Canadian-USA border

Truthfully, I was still holding my breath about being able to get in because of the last-minuteness of my passport arrival, but all was well, I was allowed into the country.

Waiting at the border - always love seeing entrepreneurs at work!

The rest of the afternoon was spent in a leisurely drive through Seattle (my first time there) to Salem, where we arrived at our hotel in lots of time to unpack and then decide where to have supper. We ended up finding a lovely restaurant and enjoying a delicious dinner before heading back to our hotel for the night.

Driving through Seattle

Day 2 - Salem to Bandon >>

Friday, June 27, 2014

Vancouver to the Grand Canyon and Back Again!

Sequel to: Planning a road trip to the Grand Canyon

Day 1 - Vancouver to Salem >>

As expected, our trip to the Grand Canyon was a fantastic experience in which we covered many miles, saw wonderful new things every day, met new friends, and got to know old friends better.

Two weeks later, I am still digesting everything we saw and did, but I'll try to describe it all for you.

After our planning sessions, the next step was actually packing and leaving. Starting about 4 weeks in advance, I got a daily text from Angharad asking if I had located my passport. I hadn't, but kept looking for it, knowing it was somewhere in my house. I knew this because I had just used it for my trip to Mexico in April, and how far could a passport go, really?

Well, I finally gave up looking for it on June 17, leaving me just enough time (9 business days) to get a new passport picture, fill out all the required forms, report it lost and apply for a new one. Of course, the very next morning, I found the old one, but damage done, all I could do was cross my fingers and hope that my new passport would arrive on schedule the day I left for Vancouver. Which it did.

And so, passport in hand and suitcase packed, I headed off to Vancouver, arriving slightly delayed but safely. Angharad met me at the airport, and we headed to Juanita's for the night, where she was still busily packing and repacking, trying to fit everything into one suitcase.

In the end, we headed out with a suitcase, a purse and one other bag each, a cooler for the trunk with water and ice, and a cooler for in the car to hold our driving snacks and food for each day. We each also had a water bottle and coffee mug, and various electronics with playlists for the road.

All in all, travelling with seasoned road trippers was an eye opening experience for me. Plus, it gave me a new list to work on. :)

We went to bed very early Saturday morning, with no set agenda for the first day, other than leaving Vancouver sometime around noon. A very good way to start a long road trip.

Route Map

Day 1 - Vancouver to Salem
Day 2 - Salem to Bandon

Day 3 - Bandon to Sacramento

Avenue of Giants

Day 4 - Sacramento to San Francisco

Treasure Island
Sausolito
Fisherman's Wharf

Day 5 - San Francisco

Day 6 - The Big Sur

Day 7 - Los Angeles

Hollywood

Day 8 - Getty Center

Travelling outfits

Day 1 - Vancouver to Salem >>

Friday, April 25, 2014

Planning a road trip to the Grand Canyon

Prequel to: Vancouver to the Grand Canyon and Back Again!

So, I'm still coming down from a high after my trip to Mexico, and last night, Angharad, Juanita and I had a Facetime call to talk about our road trip to the Grand Canyon in the first weeks of July.

I am SOO excited about this!! Angharad and I have been talking about doing this for about three years now, and it is finally happening. And what a road trip it is going to be.

Basically, take everything that is best about driving down the western U.S. coast, and put it together with the Grand Canyon, and you have our road trip. Trust me, I checked.

Angharad put together a preliminary plan...

"Not trying to take over, but just put this together to start the discussions"

which is what we talked about last night.

And today I Googled:

"What are the best road trips along the western U.S. coast"

According to Fodor's Travel, of the 5 best trips, we are covering over half of them.

San Diego to Ensenada, Mexico - Not happening
LA to Joshua Tree - While the park isn't on our itinerary, LA is; from there, we're going north of Joshua Tree National Park to Williams, where we're catching the train into the Grand Canyon.
San Francisco to Big Sur - This is Absolutely Happening!!! Did I mention that I'm excited about this trip???
Portland to Redwood National Park - This is half happening. We are driving along the coast from Portland to Reedsport, and then heading inland to San Francisco. Adding Redwood National Park turns a comfortable 7.5 hour drive into a 9 hour drive; we'll have to see how we feel on that day.
Seattle to Alaska - We are not going to Alaska. We are however, driving from Vancouver through Seattle, so we will be doing some of this trip.

And then, after all of that, we get to spend Independence Day with friends, take a train ride into the Grand Canyon, and drive through the Grand Staircase National Monument.

So, Angharad, as far as I am concerned, you can plan a road trip for me any time. And Thank You.

I will be flying back to Regina from Salt Lake City, and they will continue the trip home to Vancouver taking in the Bonneville Salt Flats, Wild Horse Monument, and Leavenworth, to name a few.

It's going to be amazing.