Stops #11 to #15: Tony & Jess

As we were on a quest along the Oregon coast for a campsite, we experienced some rather atypical weather for the area.

Ha! Kidding.

We spent all day lazily driving up the Oregon Coast on Highway 101. We stopped for lunch in Lincoln City, and had a nice morning stroll with the Beans on the beach.  It was her first time romping through the Pacific Ocean.

We were hoping to acquire a campsite (ideally on the beach) the day after the 4th of July, and it was not going well.  This was a day of not really knowing where we were going other than ‘north’.  So while Jessica was on the phone with her cousin and thoroughly distracted, Tony thought it would be a nice surprise to turn a beach and drive a few miles up instead of using the highway (legally, of course!).  Needless to say, she offered to call her cousin at a later time.

We were driving on the Del Rey Beach in the northwest corner of Oregon, we also checked out Fort Stevens State Park (Jess’ turn to drive on the beach).  From Fort Stevens, and still without a campsite, we decided to push forward into Washington, where we came upon Cape Disappointment State Park.

Stop #11:  Cape Disappointment State Park

Despite its name, Cape Disappointment State Park is one of Jessica’s favorite stops.  There were lush, hilly hiking trails taking you to Fort Canby, a Civil War era lighthouse, and multiple military overlooks.  Fort Canby felt like something out of Raiders of the Lost Ark.  It was a concrete fort overgrown by the surrounding rain forest.  As for the camp site, we ended up in overflow camping, which was less than ideal and rather tight – but for those of you interested in the area, their standard camp sites (not the overflow) is more dispersed and nice.  There are beaches you can swim from and pier to fish from.  It was really beautiful.

The next day we made our way to Tony’s cousin’s home.  On the way, we stopped in Aberdeen for some Nirvana history and our last helpings of fresh clam chowder and crab.  We were bound for Seattle and ready to hop on the Asian-style food train for a while.

Stop #12:  Monroe, Washington

We had the pleasure of hanging out with Tony’s cousin just outside of Seattle.  He and his wife have a sweet new baby, and we got to spend some quality time with them hanging at the house (Bee was so happy to chill), playing pinochle, going berry picking, and getting some delicious sushi.  It was so wonderful to catch up with them.

We also got to catch up with Tony’s uncle for dinner on Alki Beach, and aunt for lunch as we explored the Seattle area, finding some of Tony’s family’s old homes in the area; which leads us to Vashon Island.

Stop #13:  Vashon Island, Washington

Stop. It’s ferry time.

Tony’s great great (yeah, 2!) grandparents bought a cabin on Vashon Island sometime around 1915 and the family (specifically, Tony’s grandmother’s cousin) have been expanding and upgrading ever since.

It’s a ferry ride away from either West Seattle or Tacoma.  The cabin is still in the family and we got to hang out with Tony’s cousin twice removed (is that how that works??), his wife, and Tony’s grandma who happened to be in town for a high school reunion.  We came away with so many great pics of Rainier that we had to share three:

We played tons of cribbage, biked, and spent far too much time staring at that huge mountain blocking the view across the Sound.  It was beautiful!  There is a small downtown and a great grocery store that we couldn’t get enough of.  Absolutely one of our best stops, and another excellent place to chill between camping adventures.

We were enjoying ourselves so much that we modified our original plans and stayed another day.  But all good things must come to an end, especially if there’s more good things.  It was time to mosey on up to Canada.

Stop #14:  Jones Lake, British Columbia

We originally had plans to hit up Vancouver Island as our first stop through Canada, but had to push forward to meet friends.  Instead, we headed near Hope, British Columbia.  We found a “BC Hydro” campsite, which according to our friends effectively means the country of Canada built a dam for hydro-power and, as an apology for all the destruction to nature, built a bunch of free campsites around the reservoir.  It was pretty packed because it was a Friday night. But with some decent off-roading (only dragged the bikes once this time!), we found a cut out where some logging had been done and pitched the tent.

To get there, we passed over a heli-pad built in the middle of the road which we figured was for access to the logging.  The next morning, their timing was perfect. As we finished cleaning up camp we heard a whirring and they landed. Between us and the way out.

As we pulled out of the woods I think we shocked the guys there; it seemed like they didn’t expect anyone that far up the canyon.  They had us wait for a short while, and kindly moved the rotors and some gear out of our way, and proceeded to apologize and stated simply “Cheers, Eh!”.  Hilarious! We inconvenienced them, they apologize and add an ‘eh’ for good measure: Classic Canadian.

Stop #15:  Kelowna, British Columbia

After our first dose of Canadian manners we were off through the Rockies to Kelowna.

We interrupt this blog post for one of our irregularly timed nerd-outs: On this week’s episode of “Tony and Jess’ Dam Tour, Featuring: Jess and Tony”, we drive really quickly past a tailings dam that we hadn’t heard of before, and still don’t know hardly anything about.

Cool story, bro. And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

A work friend of Jessica’s was kind enough to host us in Kelowna for a few days.  We were fed (maybe too well!), enjoyed delicious beer and wine (maybe too much!), played tons of board games, biked, and explored town.  We learned to play Crokinole (their family’s Christmas past time, that they were kind enough to share in July). Yes, America, it’s a real thing: check it out.  It was so fun to get to spend time with him and his family.  We are so lucky to have such gracious and generous friends that have shared their homes with us along the way!

Hold on to your plaid knickers, we’re only just getting started, Canada!