Astoria, OR

We are in Astoria, Oregon, for the night.  Drove 309 miles after getting off the ferry after leaving Jim's and Toni's home.
Couple of things before I cover yesterday and today.

I did go back and posted some pictures for Oak Harbor and Oak Harbor, Day 2.  So you may want to go back and check out those two blogs to see the pictures.

Secondly, I want to thank Jim and Toni for a wonderful three days.  You treated us like royalty and we greatly appreciated it.  Thank you for being so kind.

Now, I didn't post Oak Harbor, Day 3 because we got back to the house late.  We were on the road in good time in the morning and drove to Tacoma.  We then toured Harold LeMay's America's Car Museum.  It had a mere 3000 cars.  Barry was in heaven.  I will post a picture of his favorite, which was Steve McQueen's Bullet.  An employee took a picture of the four of us in the entrance area.
From there we went to the old train station that has been turned into a federal court house.  So great that they have maintained and found a use for the old building.  It has some beautiful glass art work in it as well as all the old architecture.  There was a neat sculpture at the entrance that I took a picture of.
We followed that with the Museum of Glass.  Besides the art work, some high school students were actually demonstrating how to make a glass vase.  It was fascinating to watch.

Today we got to the ferry in time to take the 10:15 across the sound, so we didn't have to drive through Seattle.  We then drove 309 miles to Astoria, Oregon.  Along the way we stopped at Forks, Washington,  where the Twilight series was set.  I got a mug  that says Team Edward on it as a souvenir.  They do offer a three hour tour of the various places used in the movies, but there wasn't time.  It was great just to have been there.
We then got to the Pacific Ocean and took a selfie with the ocean over Barry's shoulder.  We are actually smiling in this one.
The next picture is the welcome to Oregon as you get off the bridge that crosses over the Columbia River.  I took a picture of the bridge from our hotel room.
The last picture is of our room.  There is a spa (big bathtub) in the middle of the room.  We thought it was hilarious when we walked in.  What a change from the Bell 2 Lodge experience, and for a lot less money.
Enjoy and talk to you later.

Oak Harbor, Day 2

Beautiful day today!  Jim, with Toni, drove us into Seattle and we took a cruise through the lock between Elliott Bay and Lake Union.  That's unique in that it is going from sea water to fresh water.  They have to keep the sea water out of the fresh water lake.  It was a terrific cruise, about two and a half hours.  Saw the West Point Lighthouse.  It is short as only needed to guard the harbor.  Then we saw a treehouse made by Pete Nelson on TV.  Next thing was the "Sleepless in Seattle" boat house.  I will post pictures later in the week.  It was great fun to be with Jim & Toni.
Talk to you later.

This is a boat being loaded with grain for export.

Skyline of Seattle.  

The building on the right with the steeple like structure,

 was once the tallest building on the west coast.

"Sleepless in Seattle" boat house.

The treehouse built by Pete Nelson of "Treehouse Master" fame.

West Point Lighthouse.  

It's named that because it sits at the end of West Point.

Cousins by a large tree.

Oak Harbor, WA

Beautiful day, both in what we did and in the temps.
First off, it's our 42nd anniversary!  Woke up to clear skies and sunshine!  What a great start to the day.
Drove 86 miles from Abottsford, BC, to Oak Harbor, WA.  The GPS guided through all the roundabouts and curves to get to Jim & Ton Kotschwar's house.  We arrived at 11:00 and had a nice visit, lunch, then a drive through the area.  What an awesome place to live!  Mountains can be seen from both the Coast and the Cascade mountain ranges.  We went to the Admiralty Lighthouse and Fort Casey.  Then we had a great meal in the quaint Coupeville.  Neat little town.
I will post pictures in a day or two.
Talk to you later.

Welcome sign as we entered Washington.

This is the Admirality Lighthouse.  Not sure I have it spelled correctly, but my lighthouse map is out in the car, so it will have to do.  

Abottsford, BC

Left this morning at 7:40 and arrived at Abottsford at 5:00.  We drove 451 miles and again it was mountain roads.  The road was in good repair, just lots of curves and 6-8% grades.  Barry does a great job of driving and I spend time knitting to keep myself calm.  Good thing I brought a good supply of yarn :-)
The mountains today were under a haze and the river we were following wasn't anything new than what we've seen before.  No animals displayed themselves although we did see a new sign to watch for badger or raccoon crossing.  The sign went by fast enough I couldn't tell which it was.  Because of the makeup of the road, it was impossible to go back and take a picture of anything, so I didn't get any pictures today.  Just a boring day!
Spent the last of our Canadian money at a WalMart here.  Picked up some things we were running out of.  That's about it for today.
Talk to you later.

Prince George, BC

Well, those of you following this will see that I missed Saturday, July 12.  I did actually type something and posted the pictures, only to run out of my data allotment at the motel we were staying at.  That's right - they only allow 100mb of data per 24 hours per room.  Plus there wasn't any TV. air conditioning, microwave or refrigerator.  To top it off it was $220 for the night.  What a rip off!  'Course it's the only place to stay, get gas, or eat within 300 miles.  We drove from Watson Lake, Yukon, to the resort - Bell 2 Lodge.  It doesn't have an address, just latitude/longitude numbers.  I tell you, we were out in nowhere with the mosquitos.  No kidding, there was a mosquito net over the bed.  Frustration aside, it was a lovely room and the bed slept well.  The mosquitos stayed outside, thankfully.
During the day on Saturday, I took lots of pictures of the landscape and a bear we saw along the road.  I will post them.
Today, Sunday, July 13, we drove 9 1/2 hours for 454 miles.  We did see another bear and a deer.  Got pictures of both and will post them as well.  You will notice that in both pictures the bear is walking away from us.  Guess that's good, but it makes a lousy picture.  There are also pictures of the different "flowers" growing along the edges of the road - or are they flowering weeds?  Either way, I thought they were pretty.
We are staying at Grama's Inn tonight and it has all the amenities we want and it's $120 cheaper - 'course we are down out to the mountains.  We began seeing farms again!  Mainly hay fields and cattle.
We have had two good days of sunshine and warmth.  It's good after all the rain.

Enjoy and talk to you later.

Watson Lake, Again

After breakfast at the Westmark Motel, we traveled back to Watson Lake, Yukon.  Leaving Skagway at 7:40 am Alaska time, we traveled 284 miles up, over, and through the mountains, arriving at Watson Lake at 3:10 pm Pacific time.
We are staying again at the Stampeder's B&B - a little cabin in the woods.
There wasn't anything eventful on the drive - no wildlife nor new scenery.
I finished another hat and started on the matching scarf.
Sorry there aren't any pictures.
I did find out that the lighthouse from yesterday is called Eldred Rock.
Catch you later.

Skagway, Again

Got on the ferry at Juneau at 8:00 a.m. after checking in at 6:00 a.m., so actually got up at 4:30 a.m. to make connection.
Left the camera in the van when we got parked, so only took one picture with my phone of another lighthouse.  Haven't looked up to see what it's name is, but will when I get a chance.  Here at Sakgway we don't have internet in the room, but only on the lobby area.  I don't always have what I need,.   The light house book is back in the room.  Hopefully I can figure it out for tomorrow.
The ferry ride was pretty uneventful, just 6.5 hours of water and mountains.  Did finish another hat and started to read a book, The Thornbirds.  Barry read a magazine.  The scenery is beautiful with the forested mountains and the snow cap mountains in the background.  No rain today.
Enjoy the lighthouse.  Talk to you later.