CAUTIOUS CARGO ↑ This way up ↑: September 2014

To Canada...: California to Vancouver Island. August 2014.

After our day with the Redwoods where we were graced with the presence of that beautiful deer, we headed north through Shasta National Forest where there was dense pine forest as far as the eye could see, which wasn't very far by the time we got to Weed, where the forest fires were not far away. We couldn't see the sky and drove through this strange smokey haze for an hour or two. It felt very claustrophobic and it was a relief to leave it behind. The fires continue as I write this over a month later.

Next stop, our friend Matt's house in Ashland, Oregon, where we stayed for another couple of days. We met Matt in Lima in January. We hiked together on the edge of Klamath National Forest and I discovered, loved, then hated Taco Bell, all within 24 hours. Our next stop was Ocean Shores, Washington, coincidentally meeting Ashland Matt's best friend, Shain, who we also met in Lima. I have no photos of our time at Shain's but with our visit to the casino for a liquid breakfast, it was bound to get messy.

After two nights with Shain and his lovely family, we headed to Seattle to meet up with Emily, a welder/sailor who we also met in Lima. En route we passed through Aberdeen, Kurt Cobain's home town, a fairly industrial town whose town slogan was Come As You Are. We sailed with Emily on Seattle's Lake Union until the sun went down, and the next day headed for Hope, Canada, where we camped next to Jones Lake.

We arrived in Vancouver the following day, found the cheapest hostel in the city and had a shabby chic night in the room we had to clean ourselves upon check out. Extra payment was required for bedsheets and toilet paper, but luckily for us with our car full of everything, we had our own. The guy who ran the hostel was a genius in time- and money-saving techniques, so much so that the hostel was only manned for two two-hour slots throughout the day and the answers to pretty much every question you could think of were handwritten on note paper and strategically placed somewhere, somewhere in the hostel.

The next day was time to visit my Canadian relatives in Duncan, Vancouver Island. My late Great Aunt Muriel originally from Yorkshire married and moved to Canada and had five children who are all settled there, and I think this makes me their second cousin, or similar. So, we were lucky enough to spend three or four days with Pam and Lou, and were visited by Cassie their daughter, and Pam's sister Wendy and her husband Kelvin. Later I hope to visit Sandie and Pete in Hope, too.

(see next entry).

Strange trinkets in the Redwood forest, Mendocino, California

Still walking with the Redwoods, Mendocino, California. Note: this is not a Redwood.

The money shot

I said the MONEY SHOT

Hiking in Ashland, Oregon - pretty peeling trees

Hiking in Ashland, Oregon

Entering Seattle

Emily and pal, sailing on Lake Union, Seattle

Sailing on Lake Union, Seattle

Matt roped to the back of the sailboat cultivating blisters

Dockside dining

It's Canada! Camping our first night at Jones Lake, near Hope, BC

Jones Lake, near Hope, BC

Our shabby chic night in Vancouver, BC

The ferry to Vancouver Island, BC

Walking in Duncan, Vancouver Island

Thinking about our impending separation

Walking in Duncan, Vancouver Island

...and Back: Vancouver Island to California. September 2014.

So after a very warm welcome from Pam and Lou, we settled in to our first night in Duncan with copious amounts of food and some excellent wine poured through an aerator. I learnt that letting wine breathe makes it taste like a completely different wine. I know because I personally fastidiously studied the matter. Wendy and Kelvin joined us for dinner one evening and we ate a beautiful lemon cake that was about six inches tall.

Pam and Lou took us out into Stuart Channel on their boat, dropping crab traps and collecting them 30 minutes later for the barbecue, returning the females and small males to the water. I think we dropped anchor next to Tent Island, a tiny island Matt and I walked around in an hour. We spent the night on the boat, occasionally visited by Cassie and her boyfriend, and dogs Charlie and disabled Kenny, whose front legs were deformed. He didn't seem to notice.

After leaving Pam and Lou a day later we set off through the endless pine forests for some camping at Vancouver Island's main surf spot, Tofino. After pitching the tent we thought we'd explore the nearby forest trail. As soon as we entered, the forest had the distinct vibe of snake pit, and not more than 60 seconds later I came face to face with a snake. Not knowing that Vancouver Island's snakes are all non-venomous, we made a swift retreat to the tent for a safe game of cards.

The next day, we headed south to Victoria for our last night together; we were due to separate the following morning when my ferry would head back to Vancouver and Matt's ferry to Washington in the US. We found a campsite outside the city, picked up a nice bottle of wine and an IPA, and unpacked our last meal of carrots, peaches, peanuts, tuna and a few slices of salami. As we had our Last Supper we were passed by a deer and her offspring. The long and short of this meal together was a complete change of mind. We would not be heading in our opposite directions after all, but together, southward, back to San Diego.

We made it back in three days, camping once lakeside outside Eugene in Oregon, and staying at the fraternity house again in San Francisco. We had one last happy month together, using up every single day of my three-month US allowance, before I would eventually return to Canada.

Still walking in Duncan, Vancouver Island

Dusk from Pam and Lou's boat, Vancouver Island

Family friend coming to visit us on his paddleboard

Fresh crab just pulled

Ready for the barbecue

Pam, Lou and Cassie (and Matt), and Kenny and Charlie

En route to surfing in Tofino, Vancouver Island

It was a snake we saw!

The Last Supper... or is it?

The bottle that changed everything

That's pretty good camouflage

On the ferry from Vancouver Island to Washington in the US

A very, very long cruise ship

Celebrating...at Denny's diner for an afternoon breakfast

Helicopter circling San Deigo, California

View from La Jolla's Mount Soledad, near home

To Canada...: Driving north through California. August 2014.

So we relaxed for three weeks in Matt's flat on top of Mount Soledad in very upmarket La Jolla, San Diego. Well, not legally entitled to work, I relaxed, Matt painted houses in the sweltering heat. To date, this has been the closest I have ever strayed towards housewifery. After three weeks, as we'd always planned to have one last roadtrip together - to Canada - to drop me off for my onward journey, we decided to do just that, visiting friends en route, both old friends of Matt's and friends we met together in South America.

First stop was Huntington Beach where we stayed with Matt's friend Ben, but not before stopping off for a surf at Trestles beach. A quick beer and Wolf of Wall Street on his plasma, which I kept finding myself referring to during the many conversations later that week. It was a good film!

On, to London-like San Francisco where we stayed at Matt's old fraternity house near Golden Gate park for a couple of days. We happened to be walking in Lincoln Park not far from Robin Williams' house the day before he died. San Francisco was grey and overcast, many Mexican and Asian shops and markets, bookshops...I liked it immensely, and felt more at home than any other place in USA.

We spent a few days in Mendocino with Phil, another friend of Matt's, where we hung at his place complete with a disused swimming pool, an old observatory and three dogs. One day Matt and I visited the mighty Redwoods, the highlight of the trip for me. Phil sent us away with six bottles of wine and two watermelons.