The adventure finally begins...

Sunday - March 13, 2016

It’s been three weeks since we finally escaped the vortex of Whidbey Island and long past the time to begin this “promised” blog.  Now to play a bit of catch-up. Some of you may be surprised to hear we’ve only just left our wonderful island, having sold our house at the end of last May (2015).  All manner of things conspired to keep us on or around Whidbey for almost 9 months.  There were times we thought perhaps the message we were being sent was that we weren’t supposed to make this trip.  We felt sorely tested to be sure but we have finally begun our journey. 

We did manage a few short trips during the past nine months.  Our first trip, in August, was up into BC where we made a big loop over to Kelowna and Summerland, BC on Okanogan Lake and back home via Kamloops and the Frasier river gorge.  Before we headed east to Hope and points beyond we managed a little genealogy research at the Cloverdale library (heads up all you Canadian researchers: http://www.surreylibraries.ca/files/CanadianFamilyHistoryResources.pdf) and the Mennonite Archives and Historical Society in Abbotsford.  As we made the loop we enjoyed the sights, did some wine tasting, checked out a local gardens and other interesting places, generally trying to stay as cool as possible while over on the eastern side of the mountains.  It was a bad fire season last summer and we could frequently smell the smoke as we traveled around.  It was also bloody hot over there. 

While camped in the overflow area of Bear Creek Provincial Park near Kelowna, we met a wonderful Canadian couple, Debra and Gerry who helped us get our water heater repaired.  They invited us to visit them in Kamloops for a few days as we passed through and we took them up on it.  Before they left for home Debra gave us a list of “must see” sights on our route and as a result we saw some things we would have missed had we not had her excellent advice.  We also visited Bob Dirks, a cousin of Laura’s,  who lives in Kelowna.  They had been in touch via email for years but had never met so it was nice to put a face to his name. 

 

The Othello Tunnels near Hope, BC -
originally they were created for a now defunct railroad.

Summerland Ornamental Gardens in Summerland, BC

Hells Gate Aerial Tramway in the Frasier River Canyon

Margaret Falls near Herald Provincial Park, BC

close up of Hells Gate tram

The original method to pass through Hells Gate!

Debra and Gerry at their home in Kamloops 



Our second trip was to the “Sunshine Coast” of BC with our friends Robin and Lee from Florida.  We’ve taken many a fun trip with them and this became another to add to the list.  I’ve lived in western Washington pretty much for the last 48 years and I had never heard of the Sunshine Coast.  As a skeptic, I was pretty sure nothing could legitimately be called sunshine anything if it was located in the Pacific NW.  It’s a beautiful spot much enjoyed by boaters for its many bays, coves, islands, etc.  By car it’s only reachable via ferry and you pay a premium for the trip.  It’s beautiful and, although it rained for about half our stay, we were told that it does get more sunshine than the rest of the area due to the placement of Vancouver Island and the mainland’s coastal mountains.  Prior to taking the ferry we went to the Capillano Suspension Bridge for a walk on the wild side, then on up to the top of Grouse Mountain where we went up to the top of a wind machine.  They told us it’s the only one in existence with an elevator and an observation deck.  The view was spectacular and the information about the wind machine was really interesting.

Robin and Lee

The Capilano Suspension Bridge

The wind machine

Doreen and Robin on the observation deck.



Looking down one of the blades.





The view from our campsite near Powell River
Sunshine Coast BC

A small portion of Pender Harbor - Sunshine Coast, BC

Our third trip was to see our friends Susan and Judy in Wenatchee as well as some mutual friends, Claudie and Linda, from Florida/Massachusetts who were visiting.  We had fun reminiscing, teasing and eating.  The 5 dogs involved had a blast.



Claudie, Linda, Judy, Susan and Laura

Lastly we went over to Forks to see Laura’s 97 year old cousin Ted Spoelstra.  Although he’s slowed down some his mind is as sharp as ever.  He took us over to the coast for breakfast then drove us around the coastal area to show us some of the more interesting places.  He also told us stories of his many years as a logger in the area.  He’s quite a guy and we hope he lives to be 110.

Ted and Laura.  Ted's mother was a Roetcisoender.

Now to the present….

We finally left Whidbey Island for the big trip on February 26^th, just two days short of nine months since we sold our house.  Our first stop was……wait for it…… Everett, WA!!  We stayed at Laura’s cousin Madeline’s for the night so we could say goodbye.  We left on a high note because Madeline loves to laugh and somehow when we get together a lot of laughing always goes on.

Madeline

February 27 we spent the night in Puyallup so Laura could get together with her very good friend Cynthia to say goodbye.

February 28 we headed down to Battleground to see Cathy and Ray, another of Laura’s many cousins.  You may remember that there was a tornado in Battleground in early December.  That tornado touched down at Cathy and Ray’s house, ripped up two big trees and did quite a lot of damage to the roof of their house and the roof of their huge barn.  Thankfully they were not injured but they had quite a mess to clean up.  While we were there I caught a cold so Laura went to visit another friend of ours in La Center.  Kurt, who is now retired, is a friend from “the phone company” where we both worked.  We also got together with a new cousin of mine, Paula Stucki Anderson, who lives in Woodland, WA.  I found her via the FamilyTree application on FamilySearch.org.  She made some changes to the information on some of my ancestors so I sent her an email asking if we might be cousins and we are.  I think I figured out we are 6^th cousins twice removed; just plain cousin is good enough for me.  Our common ancestors lived on the Isle of Man back in the early 1700’s and here we are, both living in Washington state 300 plus years later.  Unfortunately we did not take pictures of Kurt or Paula. :-(  

Ray holding Joey

Cathy holding her fresh eggs.

On March 4^th we headed down I5 to Albany, Oregon to see our friend Dulca who moved there from Whidbey Island two years ago.  We met for Sunday breakfast at Elmer's and I had my favorite Elmer's menu item: German Pancake.  Yummm.  After breakfast we all went searching for covered bridges in the area, of which there are many.  Dulca has a lovely home and a darling little dog named Joy who lives up to her name.  Unfortunately we failed to get a picture of Dulca - another frowny face for us.  :-(   Writing this blog will hopefully serve as a good reminder to take more pictures. 

One of many covered bridges in Oregon.

Laura and I also visited a very interesting carousel museum in Albany.  If any of you are ever in Albany this place is a MUST SEE.  For the last 12 years (with 3 years to go before completion) they have been hand carving and painting 52 carousel animals.  When all the animals are done they will tear down the current building and put up a new building housing a carousel featuring all the animals they have carved.  It’s a magical place and all the work is being done by hand and entirely by volunteers, the backbone of any organization.



From artists conception to the final carved piece. 



With paint and clear coat a finished piece.

From Albany we headed to Eugene to visit my friend Jacque.  We had worked together as Medical Technologists at Swedish hospital way back in the mid 70’s.  When she became an empty nester she went on to become a Physicians Assistant.  Jacque's going to become a grandmother for the first time in September and, as you can imagine, she's very excited about it.  Her dog Ruby (a cattle dog/lab mix) and our dog Barney really hit it off and had lots of fun chasing each other at mock speed through her house until their tongue's were hanging out.  Then they settled down to play fight.  Jacque told us about the Cascade Raptor Center in Eugene where we spent several hours looking at the various birds they care for.  Many have sad stories of injuries but they have a good life and are well cared for at the center.

Jacque and Ruby

One of several bald eagles at the Cascade Raptor Center



Today we moved on to Klamath Falls for some genealogy research.  More to follow as things develop.