Waterfalls!

We stopped outside Clearwater BC at a provincial park called Wells Grays based on a single photo of a waterfall in a guidebook. 

Wow...what a great surprise!

First campfire of the trip! SoloStove Campfire model mini stove is great for the van!

Dawson Falls was a short hike from camp!

Helmcken Falls.  2.5x taller than Niagra!

Spahats Falls

We saw Chinnok Salmon making their way up Bailey's Chute on the Clearwater River. 

Moving on toward Jasper NP, but another provincial park tonight at My Robson park. 

More Vancouver Island and back to the mainland!

We moved north and west on the island to Tofino, Ucluelet and Pacific Rim NP. Lots of great scenery, but definitely colder than the southeast side near Victoria. 

First stop had to be at Goats on the Roof! Also took advantage of a local market for fresh veggies, baked goods, and the all important coffee (Rebecca). 

We tried to stop and view Cathedral Grove old growth trees enroute west, but it was crazy busy. Hoped to do it on the way back, but same situation. See the pics from there near the end of our 2014 Alaska trip below. 

Tofino is a great little town right on the northern tip of the peninsula and a surf bum base of operations. Crazy people who surf in water this cold!

Now that we saw this sign, we obviously have a goal to find the eastern version.  

The all important Canadian experience...to be repeated many times in the coming weeks. 

Juno...no so into the cold ocean and waves. 

Sunset at Qualicum Bay CG. 

Fraser river bridge in Vancouver...a wee bit bigger than anything over our Fraser River at home!

Heading to a provincial park today, on the way to Jasper NP for a couple or more days next before continuing the trek east. 

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!