Lewiston, Washington to Tofino BC

So I left Lewiston the day of my last post and drove through South East Washington State entirely on backroads.  It was cool to see Idaho's wilderness hit the rivers then the landscape turned into a desert that was well irrigated but it was clearly a desert.  This is where Washington States famed apples, pears and cherrys come from.

I booked a night at Walmart (in my head) and got there at about 10pm.  What a long day of driving.  When i posted my last blog post, i was at a McDonald's in Lewiston and spent some time looking for someone to stay with on couchsurfing.org along my way to Mt. Rainier and Seattle.  I got a reply while i was on the road that day and when i got to Walmart, I had a chance to speak with Raina who was inviting me to stay at her (grandmothers) place for the night.  It happened to be back in Ellenville, WA which i had just passed 30 minutes ago.... This is one of those moments in the trip that really feels like a "Choose your own adventure" novel that i used to read as a kid: Do you A) Turn around for the bed, shower and company or B) push on forward, save on gas and stay in your favorite retail parking lot for the night.

Well option A is obviously was more appealing when you haven't hung out with anyone really since Andy outside of Glacier NP.  So I hauled back over two mountains and in 30 minutes was following Raina and her friend Savannah from the Circle K station to her grandmothers house.  We hung out in her kitchen for a while when i heard a noise down the dark hallway and turned to see that I was alone at the table and Raina and Savannah were already running out the backdoor. Oh crap! So i ran too.  From the backyard we could see a light turn on, then a ghostly face appear in the window. "Don't move! Don't move! She wont see you if you don't move." says Raina.  I'm thinking WTF is going on here, i could be playing with the demo video game consoles in Walmart right now.

So grandma retreats and goes back to bed after closing the door and locking us all out.  Raina has a second way in so it was an inconsequential lock-out but it still was a little too much adrenaline past midnight for a guy who had been driving for most of the day.

I had a room to myself and a bed. Wow!  Although at this point I've gotten so used to my sleeping bag that I use it whenever I'm in someones house too.

The next morning we had fresh eggs and sausage with Grandma.  She couldn't understand who i was and why i was there... It was uncomfortable but totally not threatening.

After breakfast I was going to be taking off to Mt. Rainier and then to Seattle in another day.  I invited Raina and/or Savannah to join me for a day trip out to Mt. Rainier and possibly an over night and I'd drive them back the next evening.  Raina said yes and so we headed off together into the mountains.

Mt. Rainier has a main north-south road and a main East-West road that follows the southern end of the park.  We were traveling North on the N-S road and missed the E-W road.  Subsequently we only found 2 nice views of Mt. Rainier one of which was on a really long side road to the Sunrise Lodge.

The sun was setting up at Sunrise and we needed to get our butts to a place to camp.  I wasn't leaving time for tent setup etc. since its been so long since I have needed to really set up camp.  Sleeping in the car is so easy and comfy at this point I laugh at the idea of going out of my way to set up a tent.

Once out of the park we took the first right off the main road and started looking out for a place to camp.  5 minutes turned to 10, then it was 30.  We were high up above parking lots on a dirt road that I had a hunch had something to do with a ski lift (why such huge empty parking lots in the middle of the woods???).  A few minutes later, we pulled up to the top lift house for a simple bench style lift that was off for the summer and could bring you up from a bottom that we could not see from where we were at the top.  We didn't realize it but we had stumbled upon into Crystal Mountain Ski resort and were on the slope that has all the private cottages and homes on it.  It seems to be a ghost town except for one pickup truck in a drive way.  Raina and I foolishly snooped around killing our little precious light that was left.  It was a cool little vertical village of huts, chalets and modern mountain homes.

Its getting dark and we have to get out of here so we headed down a steep steep dirt road that seemed to go back to where the chair lift reaches the bottom... Once we get down we cross a small bridge, turn a corner and almost run smack into a huge bulldozer that takes up the entire road (trees to trees). Oh, crap. We have to turn around and somehow get back up that impossible hill.  We only have like 25% of the light left, its quickly disappearing and the slope of this hill is sick.   Raina gets out, I back up all the way to the bulldozer and floor it trying to get enough speed to carry me up the hill.  I can't get up the hill.  I spin out a few times and have to back down it and on the third try, the spinning wheels start to turn the car diagonally on the narrow dirt strip and I almost loose the car to the hill. Ok, time for plan B... We go back over to the houses and look for any sign of life.  The only vehicle, the red pickup, seems to be parked at a house with no lights on.  We knock on the door a few times and after two minutes a man pops into the hallway with just underwear on.  Thank god I had a woman with me.  It also didn't hurt that Raina is white and from Washington.  But all that wasn't necessary because the guy who answered the door was a great guy who would have helped anyone.  Ross is a master carpenter and gets paid for about 6 weeks a year to hang out and do projects at this mountain retreat home that has remained unused by the rich family that owns it for the LAST FIVE YEARS.  WTF! What a waste of a home and and and... don't get me started.  Actually don't get Raina started... She was a tree sitter for six months in California protecting old growth stands from loggers.

Anyway, Ross makes super quick work of getting me that last 20 feet up this crazy hill.  Between meeting Ross, finding the huge discarded chain that we used to tow the car sitting 10 feet from where I was stuck, to getting invited to stay in the chalet for the night, this was a crazy lucky day! (No, not THAT lucky LOL)

The next day we woke up took a short hike to a waterfall, took amazing showers in a great shower that Ross had finished two years ago but only he had tried and we made a nice breakfast.  Back on the road, the right road to descend the hill, we continued our adventure...

The ironic part is that we were as far as we could be from the parts of the park that we really should be checking out.  So back through the park we drove, this day it was much clearer that it was the day before and Mt. Rainier was out on full display (not totally common). 

We made all the stops and took a few quick walks into the park.  When we exited we went to get gas and this Asian man with a deep accent refused to let me take a look at a map after I bought $25 in gas from him.  " I sell map only" he said.  I gave him a piece of my mind that concluded, "I hope he comes to NYC and get's lost in the subway and runs into me asking for directions." Prick.

We drove from Rainier, to Tacoma (just outside of Seattle), and then back East to Cle Elum, where Raina has a small farm plot and a few trailers that her and some friends live in.  The next morning, I went to Leavenworth a Danish themed town up in the mountains that was a tourist trap surrounded by amazing hikes.  I had just gotten in touch with my mom's friend in Seattle, Alan, who was inviting me to stay at his place.  I continued to drive as the prospects of a place to stay for more than a day was too appealing.

I got into Seattle and it was nice and sunny.  We went straight to Alan's house, met his wife Carol and got a lay of the land. We found a really nice dog park at Magneson Park that was over 9 acres.  Max loved it.  It had a sailing center very close by and I rented a laser and used my wetsuit to stay warm.  I got to meet up for dinner with my Aunt that I haven't seen in years.  I also got to meet up with a childhood friend from Boston, Jaquan.  We haven't seen each other since high school although we sailed and worked at the same place for years.  It was really great to catch up.  He is living in the San Juan Islands in Washington part time doing bio-research so I am going to go visit him out there on my way back south.

I went to the flagship REI store.  Mecca at last, right???  Well check this out:  Went in to pick up a backpack that I ordered while I was in Bozeman MT.  The funny thing is that while I was leaving Crystal Mountain, I found an empty backpack in the woods.  80 Litre backpack (same size as what I had ordered) with just a wrist watch in it. Weird.  I brought the bag into REI and wanted to weigh it down to compare it to the one I had ordered.  The woman working in bags were hesitant to help and had this attitude of "Hey, I'm not available".  I felt like saying "Hey, I'm looking for a backpack not for what's in your pants" So then they ask me "Why would you want 44lbs in your pack?" in a condescending and almost suspicious manner (Like I'm going to respond "That's what my mom told me to carry" or "That's what my bundle of illegal good weights")  Anyway, so now I have a full backpack and am walking around with 44lbs that feels more like 35lbs., great!

I need food so I go up to the cafe.  Gyoza dumplings is what I order, pay for and them and am told I have to wait 10 minutes.  So I ask if I can have a couple fortune cookies to munch on while I wait.  I'm given one and ask for a second and am told, "No, one cookie pear person"! So I'm getting pissed....

After I eat standing up (pack feels great), I go down to the famed Garage Sale. At this REI, the garage sale is continuous.  As soon as they get a return it pretty much makes its way to the basement and any REI member get pick it up at a huge discount.  I get downstairs and it is all picked over and over priced crap.  No gems at all.  I'm standing next to a guy looking through bins and say "Damn this is all picked over crap and expensive at that.  For instance, how much is that bag your holding"  This cat jumps backwards, clenching the bag, and screams "Hey man, that's not how this works! You cant shop for something that is still in my hands" I say: "Dude, take it easy, I just asked you how much is was."  He follows with "Hey, around here that's not the way we do things." That was it for me.  I let it loose and basically tried to verbally knock the man into submission.  Let's just say it started with " Does your wife know how much of a total f-cking as-hole she is married to?".

So I moved on and went up to cancel my backpack purchase at customer service.  Customer service cuts me off mid sentence and says "Oh, all that stuff is at equipment rental/pick up downstairs next to the garage sale" I just came from there and begrudgingly go back, passing the klepto-maniac prick on the stairs (without the precious bag he found on sale), and after 10 minutes at equipment rental, I am told I need to pick it up upstairs at customer service.  I was so ready to explode but didn't know at who... The REI gods? 
Canceled the backpack and ran for my dear life before anything else went wrong.

I left Seattle and went north to Bellingham WA. It was a great little town and had sailing, hang gliding, cool people, a university and tons of outdoor stuff all around.  It's also half way between Vancouver and Seattle.  I also met a disproportionate amount of African Americans in this town.  Like almost 15 individuals.  That's like the same amount in one day as I met in Seattle in 5 or in Vancouver over the course of 4 days.

I crossed the border in about 3 minutes only stumbling on "How long do you plan on staying in Canada?" I said one or two weeks and was asked: "Well which one is it, One or Two weeks?"  I clarified 5-7 days and was in.

Vancouver was nice.  It was like New York, much better natural views, most people were very laid back and sunny.  I rented a Laser and went sailing at the Jericho Sailing Center.  This is by far the best for-profit dingy sailing center I've been to.  It was really nice and made me like Vancouver a lot.  I happened to be in town on a really busy long weekend.  Monday was B.C. day, Saturday was the last show of a multi-week fireworks festival (my favorite) and Sunday was the Gay Pride Parade.  So I went to it all.  The parade was awesome.  It was super multi cultural, at least half of the crowd were straight people just out supporting the parade.  Lots of straight and immigrant families were out just to check it out.  Then there was an outdoor music festival at the end of the Parade at Sunset Beach.

Vancouver is known for its liberal laws towards drugs.  They have heroin injection sites where a licenced nurse will shoot up customers and lounges with pool tables and vaporizers for marijuana smokers (no not at the same place silly). They also have a lot of prostitution but I'm not sure how legal or illegal it is.  None of this seems to phase anyone and its all just a matter of fact in town.  The word I kept hearing people use was that "We are a tolerant society".  Interesting.

So I took a ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo BC and drove to Tofino.  This is the farthest North and the Farthest West I'm going to be going on this trip.  I've reached Canada, the Pacific and my turn around point.  The weather here sucks and they call it "Summer".  I haven't seen more than a mile in two days and was told that the day before I arrived the sun was out for 3 hours and that was amazing.  3 hours??? I'm going to take care of business here and get to a place with actual desirable weather.  Its the surf capital of Canada and not the sun capital.
I'm taking surfing lessons today for the first time ever! 53 degree water. 57 degree air. LOL


Wish me luck,
Mason

PS. My tab so far...

16,000 miles, 23 States, 2 countries, 1 flat tire
1NY
2NJ
3DE
4PA
5MD
6DC
7VA
8NC
9TN
10GA
11AL
12MS
13AK
14OK
15TX
16NM
17AZ
18UT
19CO
20WY
21MT
22ID
23WA
BC Canada