Vancouver Island, BC

On Monday we left our new friends place in Snohomish Washington and headed north for the border. Enroute we each successfully found a pharmacy with the new bivalent COVID booster and also got our flu shots for the season as we were not sure when or if either would be available to us in Canada. 

We crossed the border about noon and headed straight for the ferry to Vancouver Island. The only glitch was that both of us were randomly selected for an observed COVID test within 24h of entry. While not without complications of trying to do this via video call over a hotspot from camp, done!

We found camp at Gold Stream camp outside of Victoria and celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a hike and then a taco salad dinner generously made by our traveling friends the Carey's. 

The celebratory toast!

The Carey's at the falls.

On Tuesday we ventured into Victoria to wander around town and see some sights. Enroute we hit a piece of road debris and destroyed a tire on the van. We had to move through traffic and pulled off to a side street...and right into a Dodge dealership who advertised "Tires". Despite our vehicle being a 33 year old VW, and in typical Canadian fashion, they were happy to help.  A technician came and swapped on our spare while the parts guy got a tire on order, to be delivered in about an hour! We went on our way and dropped Juno at doggie daycare only about 30m later than planned and headed into town. 

We found a great pub for lunch and then visited Chinatown, city center, BC Parliament, and Beacon Hill Park. 

BC Parliament building

(Maybe more pics from Rebecca later)

We headed back in the late afternoon and picked up Juno, and our brand new tire was swapped for onto Byron so he's all matching again. 

Today we head north on the island to explore more of this beautiful place and meet more amazing people. 

Last full day in USA!

We're currently in Snohomish Washington at Celestine's relatives house enjoying WiFi, shower etc.  It is quite smoky here from some local and distant fires, and affecting our plans to visit North Cascades NP. Oh well, next adventure!

Since the last post, we explored Crater Lake NP where we met up with the Carey's, however it was smoky there as well. We had a good drive around the lake and we had some pretty good views, but definitely not as stunning as we can tell it would have been. 

Above is the "Phantom Ship" feature in Crater Lake.

Smoky view across the lake.

Look what happened to Byron while we were on the way to our next camp site! 200,000 miles and we're just starting the trip.

Sunset from camp at Haystack Reservoir in Oregon.

Summit of a short hike at Swauk camp south of Leavenworth in Washington.

Leavenworth is a small town east of Seattle metro area. Cool spot where we stopped for lunch and wandering around. 

And finally before Saturday's stop, Snoqualmie Falls.

We plan to get our vaccine boosters today if we can find a walk-in clinic, and then head up near the border and cross into Canada on Monday---a seemingly fitting marker for our 25th wedding anniversary!

Crater Lake!

Quick update... we're exploring Crater Lake NP today, but got out to one of the viewpoints in the moonlight last night. Some cool pics!

More later with good connection. 

Progress! Headed toward Crater Lake NP in Oregon

We are making great progress (for a 33 year old Vanagon) and are currently in Idaho headed for Crater Lake National Park where we'll meet up with our dear friends Brian and Celestine to continue our journey north and east together. 

Things are going well as we adjust back to #VanLife. We camped last night in Utah and worked on depleting part of our "home fridge" things we started with. We are adjusting our routine to one without Meghan along, and breaking Juno into being on the road. She's still very skeptical 🧐, but we improved her seating situation today by leaving the lower bed down (see pic).

It's hot!  A/C is not something Vanagons are known for (ours hasn't worked in years). 

Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls ID is a bit dry due to irrigation demands on the Snake River.

But still a beautiful canyon!

Oregon...we're headed your way!

The next adventure begins!

Departure pic from home this morning.

Headed to west coast and then across Canada to the Atlantic.

We'll keep you posted!

The Great American Eclipse

Sometime over a year ago I realized that the "Great American Eclipse" was happening in August 2017 and that the path of totality would be only a couple of hundred miles from our house. At that time, the hype had not begun and people looked at me kind of weird when I said we were planning to spend a weekend that was over a year away in Wyoming in order secure a spot to watch this event. In the following months the promotion of the event became mainstream, and it became clear that this was going to be a big darn deal for Wyoming. Luckily we have Byron, the perfect vehicle to get off the beaten path if required!

In July 2016 we attended an event as part of the NCAR Explorer Series at NCAR just up the hill from our house. We came home from that talk excited to see a total solar eclipse, and realizing that it would really be something special. I think that's when Rebecca became convinced that was an event worth committing to. 

In the coming months we began some more detailed planning; inviting friends, dropping 'pins', and circulating ideas about where to be. We discovered interesting Wyoming facts, such as one of the first spots we targeted was the area where the DOW relocates 'problem' bears from Teton and Yellowstone. In the end, we decide to target the east side of Wyoming along US85. On the satellite view it appeared that lots of side dirt roads would lead to potential camp sites as small reservoirs or in the buttes. In reality, almost all of the land in the area is private, and few easements exist that allow access to the public lands. We figured some business-savvy ranchers would be capitalizing on the event and renting space in their fields, so we stuck with the plan and went up with the attitude 'I've been thrown out of worse places' (which we [okay, I] have). 

We set out on Saturday morning expecting to encounter some significant traffic enroute even then. To our relief, that was not the case. It was smooth driving up I-25 and beyond. We arranged to meet up with our friends Liz, Jesse and Keaton at the Wyoming border in their red travel van, 'Clifford'. They said they had a surprise for us. While I was thinking 'mmmmh donuts', Liz and Jesse had something else in mind:

Jesse & Keaton in 'Merlin'

Byron got a nifty new sticker, courtesy of the State of Wyoming!

After a brief stop to meet up, share some Santiago's breakfast burritos with our friends, and take a quick tour of the Earth Roamer, we were on the road for eastern Wyoming! The ride was scenic,and uneventful. We fueled up in Torrington, including filling our auxiliary gas can as there were some predictions of the apocalypse in Wyoming, and having no ability to buy gas or food after the masses arrived. Luckily, neither seemed to play out that way in the end.

After the stop, we meandered up US85 past Lingle and headed for Lusk, the entirety of which would be in the eclipse path of totality. Keeping a keen eye out for opportunities on side roads, we were disappointed only to encounter inaccessible roads due to fencing, and plenty of 'no trespassing' signs. Near the middle of this stretch we saw a sign for eclipse camping in a farmer's pasture and pulled in to check it out. This pasture was just south of the town of Jay Em, and just about on the centerline of the eclipse path. They had spaces available, so we decided to be legal and secure a great spot. 

We pretty well had the place to ourselves on Saturday!

Over the next couple of days, we explored the region a bit, met up with some other friends at their camp, and enjoyed the local public pool in Lusk. We were taking some bets among the group whether the field would fill up, but by Sunday night the place was hopping!

Panoramic shot of the pasture / campground

Eclipse Day!

Monday morning we awoke to a beautiful day and cooked a full breakfast of bacon, eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit, and bacon. It was a great way to start the day! Excitement was certainly building around the pasture.

Some things were beyond explanation

Rebecca checking out a device Meghan made at school

Liz and Jesse checking out another

As the eclipse began, we were mostly viewing through our eclipse glasses, experimenting with different positioning and places to view from. 

Liz was getting stoked at about 50% occulded

Meghan was enjoying the rooftop deck experience

Taking it all in

From another camper on Facebook: This is an aerial view of the field where we watched the eclipse (a) about 5 minutes before totality and (b) about 30 seconds before totality.

During the leadup to totality we tried various ways of taking photos with the limited 'filters' we had (that is, eclipse glasses placed over our camera lenses). I won't bother posting any of those. During the 2m20s we had of totality, I wanted to enjoy the experience and not be consumed with taking photos or managing devices. I took a few, but Meghan got some great shots with the DSLR. 

Horizon during totality. Despite how it looks, it was dark above us.

This was the killer shot by Meghan. Two clearly visible flares, and the corona. 

The above is a cell phone video during totality. The purpose was to show the 360° twilight during the eclipse. Strangely, the cell camera 'fills in' the light from the corona to make the sun appear somewhat normal. It was a dark sky, and the sun appeared as in the still photo above.

As I write this I am still in awe at the experience. I didn't know that viewing an eclipse in the path of totality would be so amazing. There is really no way to describe the feeling of being there. If you have not done this before, add this to your bucket list! I am so glad that we braved the crowds and the traffic to do this. It was worth it and we all agree we'll do it again. It's not as if the Barnes' needed more excuses to travel, but I think that you'll see future posts from total solar eclipses, perhaps in some faraway places! 

Very Belated--Baja Trip Conclusion

Putting this in as a placeholder more than anything. I did return from Baja. Earlier than originally planned. The water was colder than I expected and I didn't have enough wetsuit to be out for too long. I got some good experience and got up for two rides, but definitely prefer the warmer waters of the central / southern Mexico west coast.

In my experience, Baja is safe. Everyone I interacted with is very nice and despite my VERY limited Spanish, I got along OK. Lots of asking 'how do you say...' (Cómo se dice), and enjoying the smiles and the laughs.

Next time will be a trip with family and maybe more of a caravan. Definitely farther south, and with some time on the Sea of Cortez. This will definitely be the route that we take when heading south on the big trip in several years! Ferry from La Paz to Mazatlan avoids the ugly stuff going on in the border states of the mainland.

I'll come back and post some pics on this post, but need to get on to the next...