Olive Pit

We are in Corning, CA at the Olive Pit. This place is like a candy store for olive lovers. There are dozens (maybe hundreds) of stuffed olives for sale and all are available for free sampling! This is a regular stop for us and we usually stock up with enough so we have plenty to take back to Canada in the Spring.

I got an oil and lube this morning at WalMart. Lube and oil change with full Castrol Synthetic for under $74. A bargain compared to what I pay ion Canada. The engine seems to like it as well. It has never had synthetic and is purring like a kitten. It is hard to hold it under 65.

The weather is perfect and it is 350 miles to Bakersfield. We shall see how close we get today.

Gas Prices

When we got off the ferry in Port Angeles we were greeted with $2.89 per gallon gas prices. A lot cheaper than Canada but higher than it was in April. Oregon was a little better at $2.69 and they even have real, live gas station attendants there!

We topped the tank off in Oregon before we entered California at a nice little Union 76 station where they have a free sewer dump for their customers. We paid $2.69. Just 33 miles up the road in California the price jumped to $3.56!!! Ninety cents a gallon more! We will try to make it through California on a couple of fill-ups.

Anderson, CA

It was a very long drive today but I wanted to get the Siskiyou Pass behind me and the weather was beautiful as we crossed into California. We stopped at the Agricultural Inspection where they relieved us of three oranges. He was very apologetic, saying he hated to take our fruit but that he had a job to do. No problem, I am sure we can find oranges in California.

We parked for the night in a brand new WalMart in Anderson, CA where they have an RV service bay in their service Center. We will get an oil and lube first thing in the morning and then head to Corning, CA to stock up on olives at the Olive Pit. I can taste those martinis already!

This WalMart, like many in California, has a No Overnight Parking sign posted. I asked at the car center and was told to ignore it. They never bother anyone staying for one night but they have had problems with people using the parking lot for long term camping. These are the ones who ruin it for all of us who just want a safe, level place to park for a few hours sleep.

The really good news here is that when I turned on the laptop in the motorhome, I had WIFI!!!!! I think it is coming from a pizza and pasta place in front of us where we just might go for dinner.

I copied my friend Rae’s idea and bought a Starbucks card in hopes I could get two hours of free WIFI a day from them but when I signed up I was placed in an endless loop of Starbucks home page to the signup page and back to the home page. Nobody in the store knew anything about it so I gave up after an hour of frustration!

Anyway, it is 7:00 PM here in Anderson and it is still 70 degrees outside! We will be sleeping without all our quilts piled on top of us tonight and will be able to have the windows open. Life is good!

Salem, Oregon

We only made it as far as Salem tonight before it started to get close to dark. we asked the Garmin Nuvi to find us a Walmart and it gave us several to choose from so we picked a SuperCenter and it lead us right there. We went in and I picked up a $40 8 gig memory card for my new camera. The files on the new camera are much larger than they were on the D70S necessitating the change.

I love shopping in Oregon! There is no tax so when they tell you the tires cost $1308, that is what the bill is. Not $1308 plus PST, plus GST adding couple of  hundred or so to the bill. The other thing I really like in Oregon is the fact that there are no self-serve gas stations! This is great for employment, especially for young people. Working in a gas station was my first job while I was in school and it was great.

It is raining. It has been raining off and on since Victoria. At least it is getting a little warmer as we travel South.

I “almost” have a WIFI signal here. It shows a weak signal from somewhere but when I click on it, it disappears. I will save this and post it when I can.

Les Schwab

We are now in Les Schwab Tire store in Wilsonville, Oregon buying six new tires. The old ones had only 18,000 miles on them but were suffering from five years of UV damage. Rather than take a chance on a flat in Mexico we bit the bullet and invested $1300 USA in new Toyos. I am using their WIFI and see they are finished so I will pay the bill and drive to Eugene tonight. See Ya!

Chehalis WalMart

We got off the ferry at through US Customs by two and headed down the Hood Canal towards Olympia and Interstate 5. We stopped at a folksy restaurant for lunch along the way where I found a huge salmon burger for $7. As we were leaving some women asked where we were going in the motorhome. When we told them “Mexico”, one said, “Be careful, there are bandits there!” “ “Bandits?”, I asked. “I don't think I have ever seen a bandit except for the one-armed kind in the USA”. Norma, trying to get me to shut up, said. “Oh, we stay away from the border”. “It doesn't matter” she answered, “They are all over Mexico now”. Well, I will have to watch for one. If I find one, I will report.

Tonight we are in the Walmart parking lot in Chehalis, Washington. It is much warmer than last night on the ferry dock and I may be able to make it with only one quilt. Life is good!

On The Road!

We finally started the adventure! We got away from Campbell River at ten o'clock Tuesday morning and headed South. We arrived at the ferry lineup in Victoria at 3:00 and selected our spor for the night. If you get there after the afternoon sailing and before they lock the gate at five, you can park in their lot overnight. We always do this because it gives us a chance to visit with Brooks and Linda. We met Linda's parents and went for dinner at The Keg.

It was a nice dinner. Brooks and I had the Ahi Tuna, served almost raw, just as I like it and it was very tasty. Norma and Linda had the Sirloin with mushrooms. I washed mine down with a VERY spicy Bloody Caesar interspersed with sips of water. To cool my mouth down. The meal was not cheap but then again, it is downtown Victoria. Brooks and Linda headed home after dinner and Norma and I walked along the waterfront with Linda's parents who live near the ferry dock. It was a beautiful, cool night.

We got back to the motorhome, covered up with two quilts and settled down for the night. In the morning we woke up as they were measuring the RV (50 feet with the car). I took the piece of paper he handed me and went to pay the $230  (Canadian) fare. A little pricey but we only cross two times a year and by taking the Port Angeles route we miss the Seattle traffic.

The adventure has started!

Loading Day

Today we transform the motorhome from a bright, freshly washed underweight rig to a bright, freshly washed overweight rig! It will be a tough job but Norma has all her clothes neatly piled in 5 huge plastic bins that fit under the bed and enough canned food to keep a small nation from starvation for a couple of days laid out and ready to go into the pantry and overhead cupboards. I have to sort out the liquor cabinet as there is no use taking liquor into the USA where it is half the price of Canadian.

My other job is to climb up on the roof with the hose and clean out the gutters for the last time this year. I will be complaining of a sore back later today, but this all means we are getting close! The adventure awaits!

As Rae pointed out I also had to park the Mazda where it would be out of the way. This involved driving it between Rae's motorhome and Norma's garden shed. It was not as big a deal as the two women made it out to be. I had more than five centimeters clearance on each side. Piece of cake!

A Day Late

It looks like we will be leaving on Tuesday now. Norma is waiting for something in the mail..... If we arive at the Black Ball Ferry terminal before 4:00 pm then we can park overnight and catch the 10:00 am sailing. It is getting close!

Wash Day

I washed the rig today and Norma is starting to get things ready to load. We will be leaving Campbell River on Monday the 26th. It is getting closer!