August 18 - 21: Cassiar Highway

Attempting to avoid backtracking as we passed back through Canada, we decided to take the Cassiar Highway. The Cassiar is even more remote the Alaska Highway, with only a few outposts over it's 600 miles. We saw a handful of bears interspersed by rainbows; it was a beautiful drive.


Towards the end of the Cassiar we detoured west to the towns of Seward, Canada and Hyder, Alaska. Straddling the international border, these former mining towns were once prominent ports before World War II, with tens of thousands of inhabitants, but now they are closer to ghost towns with a population in the low hundreds. Like Seward, these towns are surrounded by mountains and glaciers, giving them a stunning location. We watched some massive salmon attempt to swim upstream through waters shallower than they are tall, perused the toaster museum, and had some beers with the estranged locals in Hyder, AK where they take Canadian currency, respect Canadian holidays, and are on BC's timezone (everywhere except the post office which is a federal building).

Then the rain began. We were planning a backcountry trip into Jasper National Park, but once it looked like the rain was here to stay we decided to just keep driving. We're now, somewhere across the US border in Idaho and should be back in the Bay Area in a couple days.

Oh and we finally have a good enough internet connection to upload this short digital camera video we took at the top of Mt. Rose in Denali. The sound is crackily due to the wind, but you should be able to get a sense of the land.

August 4-7: British Columbia & Yukon Territory

We're in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory right now, the largest town we've seen in many days. With a bustling population of 24,000, we've slowed our pace for the day to take advantage of the services, namely to get an oil change and pick up a mosquito net. The only reservations we could get in Denali National Park were a couple days earlier than we had originally planned, so we're generally on a torrid pace, averaging 400-500 miles a day on this leg.

The last few days have been a journey into the increasing remote wilderness of Northwestern Canada. (We're hoping to cross into Alaska today). Each day finds us at a more beautiful alpine lake and campsite then the last, deeper into Pillars of the Earth book on tape, and amidst stranger communities, if you can call them that. For the last couple days I'm not sure anything we've passed would qualify as a town, mostly lodges along the Alaska highway that sometimes offer gas, coffee, knives, guns and fur hats. We came close to running out of gas yesterday and have learned to try not to let the tank get below half full in these parts.

Some highlights from the past few days:
- We stumbled around Vancouver on a perfectly sunny Monday and it felt like a ghost town. Each neighborhood we walked through felt abandoned, and then we finally realized that it was a long weekend as Monday was BC day. We ended up at the beach at Stanley Park and found everybody. It was too packed to fully enjoy, but with the looming mountains, the cityscape and the glittering Pacific, it looked like an amazing place to spend an evening when the crowds weren't there. Vancouver does a great job of bringing the beach into their neighborhoods, San Francisco could learn from them.
- Swimming/bathing in alpine lakes and rivers multiple times a day. The water is very cold, but incredibly invigorating, especially with the snow-capped peaks all around.

- There are a couple not to be missed spots on the Alaska Highway. Both the Signpost Forest, thousands of sign from all over the world in the middle of nowhere), and the Liard Hot Springs were both well worth the stops. One of the hot springs was closed as a grizzly was apparently enjoying the waters...

- The animals...so far we've seen bison, caribou and mountain sheep on this drive. Still haven't seen a grizzly...I'm hoping to soon, Allison's not so sure...

July 31 - August 3: Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is a pretty special little slice of paradise. It feels like New England meets California. Salt of the earth meets eco-conscious progressive thinking. If only we had more time... (Allison apologies to her parents for not remembering anything from her last trip here 20 years ago. It does make the "re"discovery all the more special however :). Most of our love of this island is owed to Josh and Sarah who graciously lent us there house here south of Nanaimo on the east coast. A beautiful retreat sloping down to the lake below, we see why they spend as much time here as humanly possible.

We spent Friday exploring the east coast. Hazelwood's Herb Farm where they grow more varieties of oregano and rosemary than you could ever imagine. The town of Chemainus where murals revitalized a dying economy 30 years ago. The cutest little fishing village of Cowichan Bay where we met a couple who ran a pottery studio and fishing company. Nader fantasized about trading in his tech job for their gig... Allison's down with the idea, but first we need to learn how to fish :). We then tested out a few of the local vineyards. Ranking highest on the personality scale and lowest on the taste scale was Divino Wine Studio. After we convinced him that we were worthy of tasting his wines, he proceeded on a 20 minute diatribe on the virtues of drinking red wine cold, why he didn't actually make his wines for sale, and something about his bazooka that we couldn't quite catch. Our day ended with a beautiful home cooked feast from our local adventures of the day -- complete with blueberry grunt for dessert in honor of the fact that we're missing summer in Dublin, NH this year.

Saturday we ventured across the island (via a beautiful drive through Cathedral Grove) to the West Coast. We had a great walk along the coast near the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve before checking out the surf town of Tofino where we loved the work of Roy Henry Vickers that we found in a local gallery. Driving back we saw a baby bear right by the side of the road!

Today - Sunday - happened to be the opening ceremonies for the North American Indigenous Games which are being hosted this year by the Cowichan Valley so we headed into nearby Duncan to check them out. With 6,000 athletes traveling from all over North America (100 canoes arrived from Alaska!) it was an amazing experience to be a part of. And now, as the sun begins to fall behind the mountains we're sitting outside at the Crow and Gate - Josh and Sarah's local pub - which, like everything else in this part of the world, is simply wonderful. Check out the pictures to see for yourselves. Tomorrow we're off for a day in Vancouver before the real driving begins. North, north north we go.

July 28 - 31: Seattle and Olympic National Park

We spent a beautifully sunny Monday exploring all the tourist sites of Seattle. Elliot Bay Bookstore (which Nader remembered fondly from his summer spent here in college), Pikes Place fish market, the new library and new sculpture park in town. Having spent most of our traveling over the past several years in more rural locations, we reflected on how fun it was to have a day of urban exploration.


That night we had dinner with Allison's cousin Chester and his girlfriend Kate on their cute little houseboat.... They then showed us the new house they just bought where Chester is going to design their dream home. Damn, Chester now owns TWO houses and we can't get our act together to buy one! Well, on with the travels :)

After a low key regroup day on Tuesday, we headed to Olympic National Park on Wednesday morning where we hiked into Olympic Hot Springs for the night. The hot springs were glorious and our campsite was great... Met some folks from Portland, ME and Denver while we soaked. Yes, the urban exploration was fun but we are still mostly in love with our time spent out of doors....

July 26-27 Oregon

After leaving Ashland in the afternoon we barreled up I-5 looking for a decent place to camp, passing nothing but places called "Lazy RV Village" and "RV Heaven". Expectations low, we pulled off the highway past Eugene and stumbled across Brownsville. Brownsville is a rare thing in the American West, a historic town void of kitsch. While driving up the California coast you are inundated with offers to buy a "Giant Redwood Indian" or stop by the "Trees of Mystery". This doesn't really detract from the majesty of the redwoods, and some might go as far as saying they add to the coast's charm, but I'd rather do without them. Brownsville is a real town with real people, celebrating their past while living in the day to day, without any attempts at self-marketing. We had a couple pints at the saloon, before camping by the river, next to two family reunions. Thankfully they gave us a little space.



The next morning we decided to sample some Oregon wines before making our way up to Portland. We took a wrong turn at Tangent, OR and stumbled across an antique car show. There were probably 300 people in the middle of nowhere, showing off their beauties while others were line-dancing and women were serving up a pancake breakfast. I (Nader) was excited by the photo opportunities.

Continuing on, we stopped at a couple Willamette Valley vineyards (now midday and a reasonable time to sample some wines) and tried the locals pinots. A much more laid back feel than either Napa or Sonoma. We had some award winning wines from Yamhill Valley Vineyard and the tasting room was in the owner's house.




Driving on, we arrived in Portland in time for a late lunch. Having only spent a few hours in Portland and only downtown on a Sunday, our impression of Portland was that it is decidedly bizarre. Within two minutes on one city block we passed a protest rally claiming the Environmental Protection Agency is corrupt, some Hari Krishnas ringing their bells, and overly pierced street kids with signs offering "Instant Karma". Walking through the park we stumbled upon a 30 person adult Alice in Wonderland party, everyone taking their characters very seriously, playing croquet with bowling balls and sledgehammers. We went to the open market and chatted with a cigarette smoking, guitar playing, jewelry maker who also happens to make hand-crafted bows and another guy who for a few bucks will make a ceramic representation of your face. I like Portland. It's kind of a smaller, weirder San Francisco.

A few more hours on the road and we were in Seattle, where Tim and Marnie have graciously let us take advantage of their beautiful home, while ironically, they're in San Francisco.

July 24 - 26 Oakland to Ashland

We had a few delays on our departure out of the Bay.... You know, the usual setbacks. First Nader had to bleach his hair (don't worry Nahed, the mohawk here was just a transitional phase :). Then we had to take a two hour detour back into San Fran to get the title to our car in case we want to sell it when we get to Alaska. But four hours and one in-n-out stop later we were officially on the road.

Our first night was spent on the Lost Coast in Northern California. A beautiful spot that we discovered together several years ago, it was great to make another visit. This time we camped near Shelter Cove on the southern side of the range (last time on the beach near Petrolia which we would recommend highly for anyone making the trip).

Yesterday en route up the coast we stopped for a beautiful hike in Redwood National Forest (after the obligatory tourist picture in front of "Big Tree"). From there we continued into Oregon where gas prices dropped by 20 cents and you can talk on the cell phone while you drive! We're now chilling in Ashland for the afternoon after breakfast with Tim and Melissa who were in town for the Shakespeare festival. Life on the road is treating us well so far...