Thursday 28 June 2001

We're really on our way to British Columbia, but stopped off on the way to make an appointment to get the trailer sorted at a Layton dealer while we're back in England: new awning (lost in Texas), dent fixed (dented in Idaho), and a few odds and ends to be done under warranty. Stayed in Scenic Beach State Park: pretty but primitive, on Puget Sound, next to a beach where you can collect your own oysters if you're into that sort of thing. Nearly all the ones we found were empty, so a lot of people obviously are.

That's it for Washington for now. British Columbia next, but not in a train this time. We'll be back here in around three weeks.

Wednesday 18 July 2001 - Thursday 19 July 2001

Over the border via a snotty immigration official named Gonzales, who asked us for proof that we didn't intend to become residents in the US (a tricky one, that) and to see our return flight tickets (didn't have any - they're electronic). Send them all back to Mexico, I say, it's the only language they understand ...

Through lovely Washington countryside to Gig Harbor RV Resort near the bottom end of Puget Sound, chosen for its proximity to the Layton dealership in Silverdale. Coincidentally we arrived about ten minutes before our mail forwarded on from Geoff and Liz in Massachusetts. Walked round town, picked up emails, and cooked and ate the last of our fresh food: gumbo of chicken, andouille sausages and prawns. Yum.

Next morning dropped the trailer off at A-1 RV Centre, a bit of a misnomer as we were soon to find out. We had to recreate the list of what needed doing under warranty, which should have made us a bit suspicious at the time. Visited Poulsbo, a Norwegian-founded fishing town (lots of Scandinavian names around this area) with its mandatory Viking statue ...

In the afternoon visited the wonderful Bloedel Reserve, a house full of exquisite French furniture ...

... and gardens (lake, wildflower meadow, woods etc.) donated to the state by the wealthy gentleman of the same name after his retirement, together with a good trust fund to keep it going and improve it. This is usually where these generous bequests fall down; it's all very well being given a squillion dollar property but without the money to keep them going they're just white elephants and often fall into disuse or get sold off.

At around 4.oopm I phoned A-1 to see if the work had been completed, only to be told that the panels to repair the dent hadn't been delivered due to the supplier's fax machine being jammed a few days earlier. I was too gobsmacked to ask why they hadn't told us this in the morning, and why they hadn't allowed more time to obtain them as we'd given them a month's notice of the job. However, I did ask if all the other work had been done and was assured that the trailer was ready to pick up.

An hour's drive back to Silverdale in the rush-hour traffic, only to find that two of the three warranty items needed parts and hadn't been done. The service manager had already gone home, and polite enquiries to one of the people still there as to why the parts hadn't been ordered three weeks ago produced a helpful 'don't give me a hard time, it's not my fault' response. However, we were assured that they would be there next morning, so we left the trailer and went to get a motel for the night.

Friday 20 July 2001 - Saturday 21 July 2001

Next morning, back to A-1 and - good heavens - the parts weren't there, although by now this came as no surprise. Seriously pissed off by this time, we hitched up and got out before I took a crowbar to their showroom window.

Top tip #17: On no account go anywhere near A-1 RV Centre of Silverdale, WA except to plant an explosive device or release toxic gas.

Drove up to the Olympic Peninsula in north-west Washington to stay at Al's RV Park in Port Angeles, a quaint little site long overdue for refurbishment whose facilities for each sex consisted of a single room containing one toilet and one shower. In the late afternoon we went up to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park for a long walk through wild flower meadows (lupins, bistort, yellow lilies, Jacob's Ladder) and great views over to Victoria on Vancouver Island.

On Saturday got the truck serviced and the wheels rotated, then set off to take in as much of the area as we could in one day. Much of this area is rainforest which normally gets about 150" rainfall per year, so it's very big on ferns, mosses, tall trees and waterfalls ...

... although we were lucky enough not to be rained on for our entire visit. In the afternoon we visited the Quileute Indian Reservation, where the annual tribal celebrations had unfortunately just finished for the day although we were able to get excellent smoked salmon dinners served by an Indian lady from the back door of her house. In the evening on the way back to Port Angeles we climbed 400' down (and subsequently up again) a cliff to the beach where there are sea stacks with trees growing on top ...

... as well as tidal pools, although these aren't nearly as impressive as those in Oregon. Back to the campsite in the dark.

Sunday 22 July 2001 - Monday 23 July 2001

Drove round Puget Sound to Lakeside RV Park in Everett. This is an uninspiring town of about 100,000 people, most of whom seem to be car and/or RV dealers, 25 miles north of Seattle, although the campsite itself is excellent. Lots of washing, showering, laundry, packing etc. in preparation for tomorrow's flight back to civilization for a couple of weeks. Very helpful lady in the office was happy for us to leave the truck in the storage area with the trailer, and gave us information about the shuttle service which picks you up at the door and takes you to the airport. Sent claim for hail damage off to insurance company, more in hope than expectation after their rejection of our claim for the awning.

In the morning we put the rig in the storage area, then lazed by the lake until the shuttle duly arrived at the appointed time to pick us up. Our one case turned out to be above the maximum limit of 70lb for a single item; we didn't know there was such a thing. They whinged a bit about there being a $100 surcharge for this, but eventually let it on free with a large label attached saying 'HEAVY' so that the poor baggage handlers wouldn't rupture themselves. Largely unexceptional flight home with BA, except for our stewardess who sounded French and treated the passengers with the the traditional Gallic contempt that they reserve for the English. Oh, and as we were starting to descend for landing the plane dropped out of the air for about three seconds to the extent that I lifted out of my seat: lots of screaming, and stewardesses and glasses flying in all directions. With typical British reserve the pilot made no mention of this, except to say that we'd be arriving at Heathrow a couple of minutes early. Coach to Reading, train to Newbury, taxi to Eastbury, and Bob's your uncle. Back on the 9th August.

Thursday 9 August 2001

Back again after two and a half frantic weeks of dealing with post, visiting and being visited by friends and relatives including a trip to Longleat ...

... tax returns, garage roof and house repairs, getting the car and bike running, fixing Mum's stereo, haircuts etc. etc. Absolutely exhausted at the end of it all. On the plane back to Seattle Christine met Eileen Beacroft with whom she used to work some six years ago; what a tiny world it is. In this direction we had better food and nicer stewardesses, one of whom told us that the BA Heathrow - Seattle route is is one of the last few (including Delhi and Bombay) still using the oldest planes in the fleet: cramped seats, invisible movie screen, sagging meal trays etc. but it got up and down again ok.

Took the shuttle bus back to our campground, dragged the trailer onto a site, unpacked, put fridge on, did shopping, ate Japanese takeaway and collapsed into bed.

Friday 10 August 2001

Christine woke at 4.00am and walked round the lake to see the ducks, then came back at 5.00am by which time I was awake as well. We lay in bed and  listened to CDs for a bit as we needed the rest, although neither of us could return to sleep, but eventually gave in and got up for showers, emails and hitching up, just as if we'd never been away. An insurance assessor had actually been to inspect the hail damage; I rang the company but nothing happening yet, although it seems that they just send a cheque rather than requiring you to get the work done first which will be nice if it happens.

We drove East through the beautiful Cascade mountains, and stopped at Leavenworth for lunch. The town had a bad time economically for a number of years, so in the 1960s a group of local businessmen decided to reinvent the place as a mock Bavarian resort, ever since which things have gone swimmingly. In typical American fashion it's been a bit overdone - every shop and business name is written in mock German script, including Starbuck's and Macdonald's, and there was a band dressed in lederhosen and pork pie hats in the town centre entertaining the crowds with a rendition of that old German song by Herr Disney: 'It's a small small world'. We ate at Rumpelschtiltskin's Restaurant (bratwurst, cabbage and potato salad, and very good too) which is run by a couple with German accents but who actually come from Argentina. The town also boasts one of the finest museums of nutcrackers anywhere; enthusiasts come from all over the world to see them, apparently.

A typical street scene ...

Temperatures in the 90s now. On again through a river valley with trees laden with all kinds of fruit until suddenly, almost as if a button had been pressed, the countryside changed from orchards to semi-desert - bare mountains and a little scrub - within the space of less than a mile. We'd hoped to get beyond Spokane (pronounced Spokann), but had enjoyed ourselves so much in Leavenworth that darkness fell and we stopped about forty miles short in Sprague at Fox's Last Roundup Motel and RV Park, which isn't as impressive as it sounds: note the luxury facilities including unisex outdoor shower ...

 Discovered in the early hours of the morning that it's next to a railway line.

Tomorrow we should end up in Montana.